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by Naja Melanoleuca
Summary: Renji, Rukia, Byakuya, and Yoruichi and a whole cast of friends live through a romantic comedy that is occasionally not that funny or that light hearted. Rated for foul language and allusions to adult content
1. Chapter 1

A/N: I got bored and decided to write a Bleach fic. Set 5+ years after the current Anime story line. As a general rule, I assume they are speaking in Japanese to each other so therefore do not need to add in any extraneous bits. The only time I use it, is when there is no English equivalent.

Enjoy

Disclaimer: I own nothing probably not even the idea.

**Chapter 1: Guard dog**

Rukia flashstepped to the 6th division training ground to meet her brother. The night before, she had convinced him to meet her for lunch and a day of shopping for new fabric to make a new kimono for the upcoming Doll Festival. Now normally, she hated shopping and didn't care for wearing formal kimonos but when he had come to supper with no kenseikan in his hair and looking like he was about to start spitting nails she decided he needed a distraction. This was always a stressful time of year, with festivals, a new graduating class to place, and some formal nobles meeting that had both him and Lady Shihoin nervous. So seeing how stressed he seemed, she begged for some of his time under pretense but he did agree.

She was therefore disappointed when she stopped and did not see either his white coat, his gleaming kenseiken, or feel his aura. Instead, she was met by the rank and file of the 6th being run through drills by Lt. Renji Abarai. While not her brother, at least her best friend was there. She watched him correct the stance of a new graduate, showing her how to balance her weight more effectively. No swords were used, this was just hand to hand combat practice.

She waited for a good time to interrupt and announce herself, but without even turning around, he addressed her, "Hey, little girl, if you're looking for your brother, he had an emergency Captains meeting. He should be back anytime now."

"I can wait," she smiled at him and settled herself on the fence to watch. One of the biggest differences between her division and the 6th was in their training. In the 13th training was left up the individual, though mentoring was available, it was never done formally or en mass. But here, between Byakuya, Renji, and the 3rd seat, the Sixth was run, drilled, trained, taught, and generally beaten upon every single day. It was probably one of the reasons they were the most elite of the units, now even more so than the 2nd. Her brother only accepted the best, most well rounded, smartest Soul Reapers into his unit of freakish over achievers. Renji was the sole exception with his utterly disastrous skills in Kido.

After half an hour, her butt was going numb and she was bored. She hopped down and stood beside Renji, where he was leaning, observing the new recruits. "Anyone you like?" She broke the silence, trying to figure out what he was looking for.

"Third guy from the left is strong and fast but sloppy. I think he needs a few years with Kenpachi. If he survives Ikkaku and Yumichika, then he might make a good 6th member." He pointed then to a very tall lanky girl with a long braid of black hair that made Rukia jealous. Over the last 5 years, she had decided to grow her hair out. It was on its way to her waist but wasn't nearly as pretty as that girl's. "She's way too timid in her movements. She would break under me and Captain Kuchiki. The 7th under Hisagi might be a good place for her. He's an excellent teacher and very patient."

They watched a bit longer and she pointed out a few more and he commented. Apparently there were only two recruits he thought could hack it under him, the rest he would swap out with other units to find ones that were a better fit. Near the end of the training, she turned to him. "So, feel like sparring a little? Give these newbies a show, monkey boy?"

"Are you challenging me?" he quirked a tattooed eyebrow at her and she smiled devilishly back at him. "Ok, your funeral, ice queen." He gave the signal to clear the field and the two stepped into the center.

"So how about we bet on this, best three out of five. Loser buys lunch and ice cream?" she asked, as she watched him crack his wrists and roll his shoulders.

"Sounds fair but winner gets to choose the place too. I don't want to get stuck having to eat at someplace that serves nothing but tempura battered chili peppers and hot mustard beef."

"Ok, but we need to even the odds a little, so no bankai and no sitting on me."

"Agreed but no kido spells to groin either. After the last time my balls were so swollen I couldn't walk right for a week." They both tried to ignore the fact that none of the recruits or 6th members had left, but were instead lining up by the fence to watch. It never bothered Renji but it made her a little self conscious. He smiled at her and whispered, "just relax, it's just you and me out here. None of them matter."

She refused to admit that calmed her downed and shot back, "Oh stop thinking about your balls for 5 minutes and fight."

"Hey my balls are like two little friends I get to talk to when I'm bored."

That got a snicker from her, "please like anything on you is actually small, ya' big oaf." With that she attached with a quick downward arc, knowing it was more difficult for Renji to defend against overhead attacks from people so much shorter than him. However, before her swing was even complete, she suddenly felt incredibly weak and noticed Renji was standing back to back with her. He tapped her left side with the flat of his still sealed blade, watching her through the corner of his eye. "What the fuck!"

"Seriously?" He turned more and looked at her confused face, "Senka, your brother's favorite move." He smiled and announced, "point Abarai." And winked as she turned around, swinging her zanpakto in a wide arc at him. "Touchy, aren't we?" He joked as he jumped away.

"Come here and let Sode no Shirayuki touch you." she taunted, switching to several quick kido blasts, keeping him moving further and further from her. She needed to put some distance between them. At close range, Renji always had the upper hand with his strength, speed, height, and skill but at a distance some of that was equalized with her kido Once he was far enough away, she shouted, "Dance, Sode no Shirayuki!" sweeping her sword in a ribboned circled in front of her.

Renji smiled at her from across the field and mimicked a howl, his own zanpakto glowing red for a split second before taking on its distinctive segmented serrations. "Game on, princess."

"Game over, mutt," and she shot a blast of ice at him only to see that he had extended Zabimaru towards her, splitting the attack in half so he remained unharmed. "Son of a bitch!" she ranted, quickly following it with Kido attacks, keeping him on the run. He gave up dodging and let one hit him square in the chest, only blocked by his sword. Rukia looked on with anticipation on the damage she had caused. She ground her teeth in frustration, when she saw that all she had done was push him back by about 10 inches and her hopes of a point were dashed. "For the love of god, you could at least act like it hurt."

"Please, if I got taken out by one low level kido blast with no incantation, I wouldn't be good enough to be the Lieutenant of the Sixth. If you wanted to spar with a candy ass, you should have stayed with your own division. You won't find any lazy weaklings here," the last was said for the benefit of the recruits still standing around watching. Rukia noticed how some slumped but the two Renji had liked seemed to stand a bit taller. She decided to be nice and not point out that her brother had taken him out with a low level kido spell during their fight before the Aizen incident. But then again, even a low level kido spell from her brother was devastating.

"Hey Renji," she called, "did you get the memo from the 1st?" She didn't wait for his answer but quickly started to throw ice pillars around him, "they said to discount the rumors of a rogue palm tree running around Soul Society, turns out it was only you." She blew a kiss at him as he ended up on top of a pillar.

"I think I filed that one under the one that said Chappy Bunny is really a Hallow." He jumped down and whipped his sword out before even landing, "my turn," he winked and banked his blade off the pillars, until it came up from behind her and she was trapped between two of the segments, a wickedly sharp edge pressing against her stomach. If she were to try and move, he could easily retract the blade and slice her in half.

She dropped her head, "damn." Renji always could reduce her to profanity.

"Point Abarai," he freed her and brought his sword back together, amidst claps from his division and a few boos by members of the 13th that seemed to have shown up out of nowhere. "You really need to train a little more, hon, this is too easy. Now take a deep breath and show me how tough that little Rukon rat I remember can be."

She took that deep breath and thought of how different Renji was now from the snot nosed, hyper sensitive jerk he had been when they had joined the Academy. True he had been hurting over the death of their friends but even still, he never used to be able to separate teaching from sparring and sparring from real fighting. He never used to be able to allow himself to lose even if it meant someone else would learn, his pride had been too fragile. Now there was real confidence, where once there had been only bravado. But she knew deep down that those insecurities still existed and she also knew how to bring them out.

"You're right, you have brute strength on me so I need to use my advantages," she charged towards him, feigning and underhand strike but at the last minute using a cheap kido trick Tessei had taught her to produce several very bright lights in his face. Just as she suspected, his sensitive eyes were momentarily blinded by the light and she jumped past his wild swing, tapping the flat of her blade against his neck. She then finished her statement, "my intellect. Point Kuchiki." The 13th Division members cheered for her even as the 6th started to look annoyed. She saw bets starting to change hands and was glad someone had enough faith in her to gamble on her side.

"You little, bitch," Renji wiped his streaming eyes. "So no more pulling punches I guess." He jumped at her, barely giving her time to move aside. She spun and dodged but he was too fast for her to actually attack.

She knew she couldn't keep this up long so she jumped backwards and shot an ice shower at him to give herself time to escape. Once she was far enough away she still had to counter his sword as it whipped around her like an angry snake. With a flash of inspiration, she waited till he extended it then shot an ice pillar up, trapping the blade within it. "Take that you, moron!" She laughed at him, sauntering up for her 'kill.'

However, no sooner than she had taken one step she felt his spiritual pressure rise and saw that Zabimaru was beginning to shake sounding like a rattle snake she had once seen on Ichigo's TV. Within another step, Renji's spiritual pressure had fractured her pillar and it came tumbling down. "Mother fucker!" she yelled, jumping out of the way to avoid being hit by falling ice only to jump into a solid chest and arm wrapped around her.

"You're not an Arrancar so next time attack, don't gloat, weakling." She felt the flat of a sealed blade tap her throat and sagged. "Point and match Abarai." He released her but she stood against him until the cheers died down. He bent down and kissed her head. "Not bad, but you still owe me lunch."

"That was a neat trick, where did you learn it?"

"Captain Hitsugaya has been sparring with me so I've had a lot of practice with ice lately."

"You suck," she pouted, jealous beyond belief. She had been trying to get the little jerk to work with her for years since their powers were similar in nature.

"Yeah, but not as much as you," he teased and danced out of the way when she made a swipe at him. "So what do I want you to buy me for lunch?

The two made their way to the gate, where Rikichi waited like a loyal puppy. He smiled hugely at Renji and bowed low and respectfully to her. "I have a message from the Captain for you." He held up his finger to show a Hell Butterfly grooming itself.

Renji waited, then finally snapped, "well, what's the message?"

"Oh, sorry, sir" he quickly straightened and repeated the message from the animal, "it says, 'Lieutenant, Rukia should be on her way there to meet me for lunch, however the Captains meeting is running later than expected. Please treat her to lunch wherever she wants and anywhere else she would like to go this afternoon. I will join you, when my work here is complete. Sincerely , Captain Kuchiki'."

Rukia smirked at her companion for the afternoon and gloated, "well, looks like you are buying me lunch after all."

"No fair, I won. You are supposed to by me lunch."

"Yeah, but your Captain ordered you to take me out, so come on. I'm thinking Wagyu beef," she grabbed his hand and led him away from the rather large group watching them. She barely suppressed her laugh when he cringed from her extremely expensive request. "And afterwards, fabric shopping for a new kimono."

"Shopping? You are making me go shopping!?!" He was indignant at the idea. "Since when do you like shopping you barely even act like a girl?"

She slugged him in the arm and yelled, "idiot, the trip was to make Nii-sama take a day off work not because I really wanted a new kimono. But just for that, you are totally taking me shopping."

He retaliated by kicking her in the ass, "I wonder if any other lieutenants have to deal with being pimped out by their Captain to entertain their deranged family members?"

"Deranged?" She shrieked at him ready to go for her sword again.

"But cute," he smiled and pulled her into a headlock as they walked. "So where do you want to go for lunch?" As usual, they left everyone behind them stunned and confused to the nature of their relationship. Were they brother and sister? Were they friends? Were they lovers? How exactly did 7th seat rate private training from the most powerful of all the lieutenants and how did a nobody Rukon dog get to speak to a lady of the Kuchiki Clan so disrespectfully? Separately they made no sense but together they made even less but somehow no one ever questioned whether they belonged together.

They decided on sushi and sat at an open air courtyard to enjoy their meal. As usual they ate off out of each other's bento as often as their own and thought nothing of feeding each other delicious morsels. For the first time she noticed he had bandages wrapped around both forearms from his wrists to his elbows. "Did you get hurt?" She pointed them out.

"No, Zabi decided I needed some new tattoos." He smiled at her proudly. It was a little known fact around Soul Society that Renji's tattoos were not strictly tattoos. Each one of them was branded on him by his zanpakto after he had accomplished some new technique or feat of strength. They always started the same way, with his skin itching and burning, till he had to cover it or even the mere touch of clothing would hurt. Eventually, the skin would sluff like snake and he would have his new tattoos. Where it sounded cool, she knew it hurt and there were times he was almost in tears while large portions of his skin were covered with sometimes 2 and 3 inch blood filled blisters. When they broke, they left bleeding craters in his skin that hurt to even look at. He had once told he the worst pain he had ever been in was when he had gotten the large, thick bands along his shoulder blades. It had been for his bankai and he had gotten knocked on his back and had broken open almost all the blisters on his back. The wounds had been so hideous they had even made Ichigo puke. Afterwards, he had spent two days walking around with no skin on his shoulder blades. She had asked him why, and he had simply told her that it was nothing compared to the pain of thinking he couldn't save her. She sometimes hated him, when he was so willing to harm himself for her.

"I wonder where your brother is, we passed two other captains on the way here." Renji mused, pulling her from her sour thoughts, as he shoved all his wasabi onto Rukia's food.

"Probably with Lady Shihoin. They have been cloistered up with each other for weeks. Something about the upcoming Noble council has them both spooked." She took Renji's ginger too, knowing he didn't like it and replaced it with her quail eggs. "I did hear him arguing with Ginrei the other day though. Apparently the two families want him and Yoruichi to get married." Renji chuckled at that. "I don't believe either is too keen on the idea. In fact Nii-sama said something to the affect that, 'arranged marriages only worked if neither party knew what they were getting into and he knew her far too well to fall for it'."

"That sounds about like him. I wonder what she said?"

They both laughed at that before she took it one step further. "Can you imagine what their honeymoon night would be like. You would have to use Sekiseki stone all over the room and ban edged weapons from the bed chamber." They laughed harder.

"Hey but I bet it would be the fasted honeymoon in recorded history and afterwards they would argue over who finished faster." Rukia threw her head back and laughed at that one.

Unknown to the two friends, others were watching them. Captains Ukitake and Kyouraku walked along with a young looker in expensive clothes and shades. "Who is that vision over there?" Shigeru Kyouraku stopped his uncle to ask.

"The one there laughing," Shinsui asked, seeming unsurprised that his second nephew would be keeping an eye out for good looking women. "That's Rukia Kuchiki." He might have been shocked at anyone calling Rukia a vision but she was truly lovely, when she laughed or smiled.

"Kuchiki, like Clan Kuchiki?" Where before his interest was piqued, now he was entranced.

"None other, Shigeru-kun," Ukitake smiled at the grown up that was once a little boy he loved to play with. "She's Byakuya's sister and one of mine."

"What is that thing beside her?" he waved derisively at the thuggish looking red head laughing with her.

"That's Renji Abarai, Byakuya's Lieutenant." Ukitake continued.

"That thing is a lieutenant? He doesn't look so tough," Shigeru snorted.

"Tough isn't the best word to describe Abarai." Kyouraku patted his nephew on the shoulder. "It's not nearly a descriptive enough adjective. I think insentient to pain and idiotically headstrong are better."

"You forgot loyal to the point of stupidity and incapable of admitting defeat," Jushiro added with a smile.

The younger man looked discouraged but pressed on, "So she doesn't have an agreement with him or anyone else for that matter? He's just a lieutenant she knows"

"Agreement?"

"Is she engaged to him or anyone else? They seem very familiar with each other," Shigeru tried to keep the impatient from his voice. He loved Uncle Shiro but sometimes the man was just too obtuse.

"No, they aren't engaged, but," was as far as the silvered hair captain got.

"Good," Shigeru turned to walk off, then stopped, "by the way, Byakuya isn't as scary as everyone says he is, is he?"

"Depends what you consider scary?" Shinsui smiled at his nephew and watched him walk away.

"You aren't going to stop him?"

"No, this is more interesting." He handed his oldest friend a flask and Ukitake handed him some candy and they watched the kid walk into a field of land mines.

Shigeru felt his hair, checked his clothes and sauntered up to the answer to his prayers. Shigeru Kyouraku was a handsome man, of a noble house, good breeding, intellect, some spiritual power, and very expensive taste. His life until recently had been about drinking, vacationing with his friends, and having fun, that was until his father decided either he did something with his life or he was being cut off. But there in front of him was a woman that was easy on the eyes if not truly hot, unattached, and probably dowered for more than his family had ever even had. In other words, the answer to all his problems.

He took a deep breath and turned on all the charm he possessed, "hello, there, mind if I have a seat." He walked towards them and walked straight into an extended leg blocking his path. He tried to move it but it didn't budge and was as hard a freakin' tree trunk.

"Depends who you are?" Just as he figured but hoped against, the red head questioned him. He turned on a smile and tried not to notice how long the leg was. This guy must be as tall as his uncle. He hadn't noticed before because he was slouched low in his seat.

"Shigeru Kyouraku, at your service, ma'am." He raised one of her dainty but surprisingly callused hands to his mouth for a kiss. He hoped she knew it was all the rage to eschew the traditional bowing and go more for the western touching. However, from the murderous glare her companion had, apparently he was not accustomed to it.

"You should probably remove your hands from her, unless you want to lose them," he rose and Shigeru realized he was right. The guy was a freakin' giant and the weird markings on his face made him look primal and menacing. Clearly this guy was no noble but an enforcer.

"Oh back down, fido, its fine." The woman, he now realized was extremely short, glared at the red head. "You will have to excuse my guard dog. My brother pays him well to keep me safe and he takes the job quite seriously. I'm 7th seat Rukia Kuchiki of the 13th and this mongrel is Lt. Renji Abarai of the 6th."

"Very nice to meet you Rukia," he smiled again, completely ignoring the glowering lieutenant and she blushed. He was in. He took a seat, turning partially away from her 'guard dog' and continued to speak to her. "I hope you don't think I am imposing, but I was walking with my uncle, Captain Kyouraku and my Uncle Shiro when I saw you from across the way. I thought you so lovely I simply had to come meet you and extend to you an invitation for a ball I am having next week."

"A ball," Rukia smiled at him, "I'll have to ask my brother."

"Well of course Lord Kuchiki will be invited as well as all of the captains and most of the lieutenants," he allowed his eyes to duck to the side, knowing there was no way in hell he was invited his tattooed freak to his party.

"Well now's your chance," the thug interrupted as he rose again but at least this time his hand wasn't on his very scary sword. He bowed low and respectfully to a group of people coming up behind him. "Captain Kuchiki, Lady Shihoin, Captain Ukitake, Captain Kyouraku." Shigeru's jaw nearly hit the floor, when he finally got a good look at Lady Shihoin. She had been the one he had intended to try and woo and apparently the rumors of her beauty were not exaggerated.

"So formal," he laughed at waved at the oversized redhead. "So you must be Byakuya," he held his hand out in the new Western style, "I'm Shigeru Kyouraku. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." His hand was stared at but the man made no move to take it. "I was just chatting with your sister here and inviting her to my party in two weeks. Your invitation will be delivered to you later, but I just couldn't wait to talk to this lovely lady in person." He was starting to sweat as Byakuya hadn't said a word and continued to stare at him as if he were something that had drown in his famous coi pond. His eyes were an inscrutable grey and seemed as hard and unforgiving as steel.

"Don't worry Nii-sama, I told him I had to talk to you first." All he did was raise one eyebrow but still said nothing.

"Oh relax, Bya-kun, it's not like anything too terrible could have happened with your faithful hound keeping watch." Lady Shihoin tugged on Byakuya's scarf, and smiled impishly at her fellow noble. "Now, I believe that you promised me an afternoon of shopping." She grabbed his arm and started to lead him away. "By the way, Shigeru, it was a pleasure to meet you, but next time," she suddenly appeared in front of him before he even registered she had moved, "remember your place, second son of Kyouraku." She then was back with the ender Kuchiki, intending to head towards the fabric district.

"I'll leave you to it, Captain," Renji turned to leave, apparently glad to be sprung from shopping only to feel his commander's hand on his collar.

"Not so fast, lieutenant." He said then pulled him closer, "if you think you are leaving me alone with these two for an entire afternoon, you are sorely mistaken."

"Yes, sir." They then followed the women off.

"Well that went fairly well, don't you think?" Shigeru shook of the fright of Yoruichi popping up so close to him. "Rukia is cuter than I thought she would be but Yoruichi Shihoin is magnificent. I can't believe she isn't married yet."

"Give up, junior, she doesn't come with training wheels," Shinsui threw his arm over his nephew and started towards the sake houses.

"Uncle Shiro, she can't be that bad." he whined.

"She would eat you alive." Ukitake shrugged. "Besides, I don't believe she has any intention of getting married and even if she did, I think it would be arranged."

"But who would her family arrange a marriage to, there is no one as high," he stopped for a moment, thinking it through, "oh. That explains it."

"Actually it doesn't explain anything, kiddo," Kyouraku, smiled at some passing ladies. "Anything you can even think of to describe the relationship between Yoruichi and Byakuya is far too simplistic. I find it is better to not even ponder it, especially sober."

"Agreed," Uncle Shiro chimed in and accepted a box of chocolate from a pretty young Soul Reaper that stopped to talk to him. He never would understand how the man didn't weigh 500 pounds with as much candy as people gave him.

"Well what about Rukia, she seemed nice enough."

"Rukia is great, you just have to make it past her brother."

"You think it went badly?"

"You're still alive, so it didn't go as badly as it could have." They waited for the silver haired captain to catch up. "You have to understand, Geru, the Kuchiki's aren't like us. They are very, very, very strict and traditional. No one but other Captains and Yoruichi even call him by his first name and she does it more to annoy him than anything."

"So you think it is hopeless?" He slumped, his plans for her dowry dwindling.

"No, not hopeless but you have to understand it will be a hard sell. You'll have to behave beyond reproach around her."

"Wait, he can't be that strict if he let that thing be so familiar with her." He pointed out, remembering how they ate off each other's plates and how she had touched his hair.

"He isn't a thing, Shigeru," Ukitake corrected, "he's a lieutenant and her best friend. Insulting him will not get you anywhere with her."

"How in the world could a noble of her caliber be friends with that tattooed freak of nature?"

"We'll explain over lunch." They entered a fine sake house and Shigeru was all ears.

Rukia leaned back against Renji, and took his arm to wrap around herself. After an afternoon of shopping watching her brother and Yoruichi fighting with each, she had thought Renji deserved that ice cream he had won in their earlier match. So here they sat, contentedly licking off of each other's cones and watching the sunset. He liked banana and she liked chocolate.

"Today was fun." She smiled up at him and crunched into her cone.

"If you call being dragged to every cloth merchant in the Seireitei to debate the finer points between wisteria and eggshell vs. orchid and ecru when they are both just fucking purple and white, then sure." She knew it was mostly for effect that he blustered.

"Philistine," she called him haughtily, then leaned her head against him. "I meant getting to spend the day with you and Nii-sama. Sometimes I get jealous that you know him so much better than I do." She felt him tighten his arm around her and rest his hand on her stomach. For an instant she pictured him doing so if she were carrying his child, then shook her head at the absurdity of it.

"I know. But take heart, I spend more time with him but he clearly likes you better." He smiled down at her deviously as she took his cone for more of his banana ice cream. "He hasn't once threatened you with extra paper work, extra training, or beheading today, unlike me."

"You told him you were going to leave him there with two women arguing about who was prettier. What did you expect him to say?" They both looked over at the Captain where he was glaring at Yoruichi as she tried to feed force feed him ice cream. She loved it and he had never been a fan of sweets.

"We should start a betting pool on how long before they kill each other now that she has come back to take over the punishment squad again." Rukia laughed, thinking it wasn't a bad idea. "I give them less than a year if she doesn't back off a bit. I don't know how he hasn't hauled off and punched her yet."

"Better breeding than you, would be my guess." She giggled, "but seriously, he wouldn't hit her any more than you would hit me for picking on you."

"Subtle difference is that we like each other. I think she sees him as a toy and he sees her as an annoyance."

"Maybe." Rukia finished her ice cream and hugged Renji's arm to her. She could really think of no better end to any day than being cuddled against her best friend, watching the sunset. He must have finished his dessert too because she felt his chin come to rest on her head. She wondered if he felt the same way. She almost asked him but decided not to ruin the relaxed mood, "so, what are you planning on doing for the rest of the night? I'm sure that after your sacrifice, Nii-sama would be willing to let you come home for supper."

He snorted, just imagining how the Captain would feel about having to spend any more time in Renji's presence. "Nah, I can't. I have a date with a cute blond and some paperwork tonight." She whipped around to stare at him in shock. Renji never dated. "Kira, silly," he tweaked her nose and she settled back against him.

"You work too much, you are almost as bad as Nii-sama."

"Hey, squads don't run themselves. And besides, I took off the entire afternoon so I have to make up for it tonight. I won't even have time for evening training."

"Well sorry to waste your precious time, Lieutenant." She snapped, vaguely hurt that he hadn't enjoyed himself as much as she had. The same old, ugly fear that she was holding him back started to rear its head again.

"I never said you were wasting my time," he pulled her closer, almost sensing her insecurity. "I just meant that I need to work a lot. Your brother expects perfection and since I fail miserably at that, I have to make up for it with long hours."

She reached up, putting her hand behind his neck so she could pull his head down and kissed him on the cheek. "It's ok, I'm sure he knew you were a failure when you were assigned to his squad," she snickered at him.

"I'm so glad that anytime I start to feel good about myself you are there to remind me what a fuck up I am." He smiled at her and she laughed at him, knowing he didn't really mean it at least he better not. He looked at the sky again and sighed, "I've got to get going. I'll walk you back if you don't want to stay with your brother and the future Mrs. Kuchiki."

"Please, I don't think I can take any more of their bickering today. Let me just tell the future Lord of Shihoin I'm leaving." They both giggled and headed back.

Lt. Izuru Kira was unsurprised when his door was unceremoniously opened without a knock and a bento of supper was tossed onto his papers. Over the years he had grown used to his friend's complete and utter lack of manners only because of his incredibly soft heart about helping with paperwork. So for the last four and half years, whenever Renji was in town, he would show up on the last Wed of every month to help Kira finish the work for the 3rd. He would usually do the Captain's work, which Izuru might have found insulting if he weren't so grateful.

"Evening too-tall, how are things?" Kira took a break to pull out a bottle of sake from his desk drawer, restocked just this morning to take the edge off tonight's work.

"Not bad, not bad. I spent the day looking at fabric with Lady Shihoin and Rukia. I sort of feel like I need to beat up someone from the 4th to get my masculinity back. I did get free ice cream though." Renji countered him with a larger more expensive bottle of sake.

"Yeah for you, what's with the bribe?" He pointed at the pricey sake, he knew it had to have come from Kuchiki's stash.

"What makes you think I'm bribing you? Maybe I'm just tired of drinking that rock-gut you always have." He dug into his bento, stuffing his face as usual.

Kira smiled at what a simpleton his friend was. "You bring me military issue food but a $200 bottle of liquor. You want something, now what is it?"

"Two hundred dollars!?!" he shouted, "man, the captain's going to kill me for picking that one. I just grabbed it 'cause I like the kitty-cat on the label."

Kira snorted, "I'm sure $200 is nothing to your captain." Just because Renji had made a mistake didn't mean he wasn't going to enjoy the hell out of some expensive sake. "So quit pouting and tell me what you wanted, though I'm guessing it involves sniping my new recruits," he raised his exposed eyebrow at his companion.

"Why would you think that. Maybe I just wanted to gift you with a nice bottle," he trailed off unable to keep up the rouse any longer. Renji had never been very good at subterfuge, subtly was not his thing. "Ok, I totally want to snipe some of your recruits," he admitted with a smile.

Izuru took a sip and sighed in contentment, just perfect. "Ok, come by tomorrow morning and you can have whoever you want. It's not like my squad can get much worse than it already is."

"True." He threw a rice ball at the redhead, but was foiled when Renji caught it in his mouth. They worked quietly till Renji started to play with a partially folded origami crane. "What's this, you don't have enough work so you have to make little birds?" He flapped its wings pretending it was flying around. Sometimes Renji's childlike behavior was both refreshing and frightening.

"Invitation to some ball the Kyourakus are throwing in a few weeks. I'm sure there is one for you at your office." He noticed Renji glared at the crane menacingly.

"Actually, no there isn't. There was one for the Captain but not me." He savagely bent the little crane over till its beak was going up its backside. "I met the little punk throwing the party earlier today. His name's Shigeru, the Captain's nephew."

"I'm guessing from the way you are mauling the invitation that you were unimpressed with him."

"He was a twerp. He was annoying, disrespectful to Rukia and the Captain and kind of rude to me" he grumbled, then started to rant, "and he shook hands instead of bowing and smiled too much. He had this really stupid looking spiky hair, expensive clothes, and big puppy dog brown eyes. He was smarmy and I wanted to punch him in the face."

Kira leaned back and smiled. "So he hit on Rukia?"

"Why would you say that?"

_Because you are about as subtle as Ry__ū__jin Jakka about your jealousy_, he thought but said, "because I were a second son about to be cutoff, an unmarried Kuchiki daughter would be an ideal solution to my problem. Her dowry would definitely render her far more attractive than her general physical appearance and disposition would on its own."

Renji tilted his head sideways for a second, "did you just insult her?"

"No, of course not," even though he actually had. "But my point was that he was probably attracted more by her money and family than her person."

"Oh," Renji went back to Kira's extra paperwork until he looked up again. "Do you think they only invited you because you are a noble too?"

"I doubt it. Rankigu and Hisagi were invited too. I thought all the Captains and Lieutenants were."

"Expect for me," Renji looked down at his work, bleeding dejection.

"I bet I can tell you why." Kira finished his cup and poured another. "So I'm guessing upon your first meeting with this fellow, he walked up to Rukia and you put yourself between the two of them. At some point you probably stood just so you could tower over him looking scary and if he was really bad, you might have threatened to draw your sword. Am I close?"

"Were you there watching or something?" Renji grumped.

"No, I just know you. You are always act the same way whenever any other man tries to engage Rukia in even simple conversation. You are almost as bad as Ikkaku is with Yumichika."

"But I thought women liked it, when men were protective?" Renji tried to defend himself.

"Protective maybe, a caveman, I'm bet not so much."

"But Yumichika likes it, when Ikkaku acts even worse than I did."

"There are so many things wrong with that statement I'm not sure where to start. First, Yumichika is a guy, a very pretty one but still a guy. Two, Yumichika likes it because he hates other people getting near him unless it's in a fight. And Three, as a blanket rule, you should probably never use Chi when trying gauge normality."

"True but you didn't meet the guy. He was such a jerk." Renji scowled.

"Did he look at all like Kaien, Ashido, or Ichigo? I mean, since you mentioned spiky hair, smiles, and big brown eyes?"

"Yes," Renji sounded despondent.

"So maybe he wasn't a jerk so much as you just recognized he is Rukia's type plus a noble and he made you feel a bit insecure, which in Renji-world immediately translates into hostile and unpleasant." Renji was actually pouting now and Kira couldn't help but laugh. "Next time don't act like a jealous prick and maybe you might get invited."

"Ok," Renji finally looked at him, "but will you keep an eye on her at the party, make sure he doesn't do anything to her?"

"Yeah, I'm sure if he does anything to her I'll be her first line of defense rather than her own kido or sword or even worse her brother's."

"I'm overacting, aren't I?"

"You're overreacting." They finished their paperwork in silence and Kira decided he would maybe keep an eye on Rukia for his friend after all.

TBC


	2. Sniffing Around

A/N: I got bored and decided to write a Bleach fic. Set 5+ years after the current Anime story line. As a general rule, I assume they are speaking in Japanese to each other so therefore do not need to add in any extraneous bits. The only time I use it, is when there is no English equivalent.

Thanks for the reviews they always help the "process."

Enjoy

Disclaimer: I own nothing probably not even the idea.

**Chapter 2: Sniffing Around**

Renji had been in a funk for the last two weeks. He knew that Rukia had had numerous lunches, dinners, and afternoon teas with Shigeru, always chaperoned by her benevolent captain and his annoying uncle. She had spent the last week and a half gushing about how charming he was and how handsome, making Renji really want to slice him in half. All of which, Izuru had to hear about as Renji's de facto father confessor in all things Rukia related. It didn't help matters that the meathead had had no chance to convince the man that he was not an evil, vile, monster so that he could go to the party too.

So Kira had taken pity on him and invited him over while he got ready for the ball. Currently, the lieutenant of the 6th was stretched out on Izuru's floor, petting Maneki, his fat, stupid cat. He wasn't surprised by it in the least, as Renji was the reason he had the damn blimp anyway.

Four years ago

Kira winced away from the bright lights coming through his window. The hangover from last night's binge still plaguing him, even though he had slept in till nearly noon. None of them were ever in good shape on the anniversary of Aizen's betrayal but him, Momo, Hisagi, and Rankigu were always the worst. He dropped his head, hoping no one would come bother him so he could sleep the rest of the afternoon on his desk but as usual luck and Izuru Kira were at odds. He groaned as there was a light knock on his door followed by the door opening before he even hailed them in. It was just Renji, carrying a small basket with a lid, so he didn't bother to lift his head.

"What do you want, Abarai, and whatever it is, it better not involve me moving?" he groused, hoping to scare off his perpetually enthusiastic friend.

"I need a favor," he sat down, still clutching the basket to him.

"Take whatever you want as long as you leave quietly," he returned to deciding if the need to puke outweighed the pain in his head.

"I'm serious, I need your help," Renji sounded so worried that Kira finally tilted his head up to look at his friend. Now that Renji had his attention, he pressed on. "Ok, so remember about a month and a half ago there was that really bad storm. Well I was walking back from the 13th and heard a noise. I went back there and a cart had tipped over and under it was a mother cat and her kittens," he took a breath from his frantic tale, sounding very much like an over-exited five year old. "Anyway, the mama was dead and the kittens were really little and it was really wet and cold so I couldn't leave them out there. So I took them home and tried to warm them up and feed them but two died that night. Two of them survived and I fed them every four hours and took care of them. I let them sleep in my sleeves to keep them warm and even kept them under my desk at work. But then Captain Kuchiki brought one of his Akitas to work with him and he found Bene, the little girl, and killed her. I was really sad about it because she was really playful but this one," he finally set the basket down and uncovered it, revealing a very small black and white kitten that immediately scurried onto Renji's sleeve and settled itself on his broad shoulder, barely balancing due to his bobbed tail. He regarded Kira with judgemental green eyes just before he turned around and started to wildly bat at Renji's hair in a maniacal display of kitten joy. "This is Maneki, he got away from the dog."

The cat seemed to have lost interest in Renji's hair and decided to rub its cheeks and chin all over Renji's face. Kira had to stubbornly remind himself of his two rules for dealing with the redhead, one, do not show weakness or you will be mercilessly harassed. For example, no fawning over the incredibly cute kitten. Second, no thinking about Renji naked, because if he did, he would picture Renji naked and playing with cute kittens that were allowed to lick the tattoo patterns all over his insanely hard torso.

He realized Renji was talking again, and pulled himself out of his fantasy, "can you repeat that last part?"

"I said the Captain said he was sorry about Bene but I don't think he really was because he doesn't like cats. I mean he really doesn't like cats, he won't even let people hang up pictures of cats. I'm not sure why. I mean he doesn't have any reason to be scared of them, they can't hurt him. I think it must be Yoruichi's fault.

"Anyway, he told me I had to get rid of him because he didn't want him in the office or in the barracks and I live in the barracks. I can't let him go out on the street," Renji looked horrified at the idea and turned to rub the tip of his nose against Maneki's side. "He's too little and he can't take care of himself yet. Someone will eat him or hurt him or something." Izuru neglected to point out that no one would eat a cat until he remembered where Renji grew up and shut his mouth before the man expounded on eating rats and bugs and made him revisit his sake from last night. "Can you look after him for me?" Renji put the kitten down on the desk in front of him and it walked up and nuzzled his face. "It will just be until I find someplace else for him to go or he gets big enough to take care of himself." Renji looked like he was about to cry, "I can't stand the idea of him out there all by himself with no one to take care of him. What will he eat and who will keep him warm at night?" That look just recemented Kira's 50 year long crush on his friend. What other Soul Reaper would worry about a stray cat and go through all that trouble to find it a new home? But one day he was going to have to talk to Renji about his issues involving loss or lack of security. He really was sort of pathological about it, though not now.

"Please, I promise; I'll do anything you want me to, if you take care of him." Renji bargained, assuming Izuru would refuse. But seriously how could he really refuse two such adorable strays? The harder part was not spitting out requests like, 'let me deep throat you, can I eat sushi off of you 8 pack,' or 'would you bend me over this desk and make me walk funny for a week?'

"Ok, just till you find someplace else for him." He agreed, not prepared for the beatific smile his friend turned on him, making his heart flutter in his chest like a school girl.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you." He stood and started sorting through the rest of the basket. "I have some milk in here for him, his blanket, and his favourite toy," he paused then swallowed, no longer looking adorably happy. "Anyway, he can eat solid food but nothing with bones in it and you have to cut it up kind of small for him." He sounded positively chocked up.

"Don't worry, Renji, I'll take good care of him and you can always come and see him." Izuru tried to placate the soft-hearted lummox before he actually did burst into tears. The man was such an insanely cute contradiction. He was the toughest and strongest of all of the lieutenants but he still melted for a motherless kitten. He wondered briefly if it was actually possible to pine to death over a crush. He would have to ask Hisagi, since the one he had on Matsumoto had been going on even longer.

"Thanks, you're the best." Renji turned to leave and Maneki let out a pitiful mewl at his back making the big man sniffle but continue on.

Present.

Four plus years later, Kira still had the cat and Renji still stopped by at least once a week to see him. He supposed he had to give his friend credit though, especially if it had been on purpose, because a mascot was just what the 3rd had needed after losing two captains in such close succession. And a quiet companion had done wonders for Kira himself. It was amazing how nice it was to come home to someone that at least didn't voice how little they thought of you.

He turned around and reminded himself how off limits Renji was, because otherwise he might just pounce on him and lick up one long leg and down the other. As much as he liked Rukia, she was one dumb, fucking woman if she had full access to that gorgeous playground and didn't take advantage of it. "So, how do I look?"

Renji squinted up at him for a second then answered, "like you with your hair tied back." Kira kicked him just for being obtuse, "ow! What was that for?"

"Manners, Renji, when someone asks how they look you should always compliment them."

"Fine, you fuckin' woman, you look very pretty but you have on too much perfume."

"Cologne, when it's a man, it's cologne," Kira corrected.

"I know but you still have on too much perfume," Izuru rolled his eyes and contemplated hitting him in the solar plexus with a kido blast but refrained.

"I do not have on too much cologne for normal people. Not everyone has the sense of smell of a snake, Renji. You always think everyone has on too much."

"Because everyone always does. I swear, sometimes the way Rankigu smells actually makes me nauseous." Kira agreed; she did wear too much perfume.

He sank down beside his friend, "so what do you plan to do tonight with no Rukia to keep you out of trouble?"

"Not sure. I finished most of my paperwork and almost all my drinking buddies will be at the stupid party," he pouted. "Guess I'll train till I'm too tired to stay awake."

"You really do have a one track mind, don't you? You spend more time training than sleeping." He reached over and scratched under Maneki's chin, while Renji scratched just above his tail, making him raise his backend into the air and purr franticly.

"You don't get stronger by spending all your time sleeping," Renji threw out philosophically.

"True enough but you should consider taking a break now and again. Even you need to rest sometime." He finally rose and held his hand out to Renji, fully expecting to be yanked back down to the floor face first.

"Don't worry, mom, I'm fine." Renji strangely did not throw him onto the floor.

"Come on, let's go pick out the rose I will give Rukia from you." Izuru let him out, dousing his lights.

"Huh?"

"Rose, I'm going to give Rukia a rose that you picked out for her to wear tonight."

"Why, she doesn't really like roses? She likes bamboo, though."

"You are completely missing the point, dullard. It is something to remind her of your since you can't be there and," he paused for emphasis, "to warn other men away from her."

"I don't get it." Renji scratched his head like a confused dog.

"You really are completely hopeless." He shoved his friend towards the flower stand, "just pick out something and tell her she is welcome, when she thanks you." Renji handed him a wilted looking daisy and Kira glowered at him, "no wonder you haven't been able to get into her pants for the last 45 years with that type of romantic offering." Renji seemed to physically shrink in front of him then, looking like a puppy that had just been yelled at. He immediately felt guilty. "Here, how about this one, she likes purple, right?" he selected a pansy that was a delicate lavender.

Renji bit his lip and picked out a different one, "this one is closer to the color of her eyes." He handed it over without looking up.

Kira accepted it with a smile, sometimes he forgot just how sensitive Renji was about certain things. You could call him stupid, worthless, ugly, crude, or any number of other insults and it didn't faze him but comment that he wasn't good enough for Rukia and he shut down into a ball of insecurity. Frankly, it wasn't very healthy. "It's perfect." He put his hand on Renji's bicep, giving it a squeeze. "And don't worry, I'll keep an eye on her. If he tries anything, I'll hit him in the dick with Wabisuke a couple times and he won't be able to get it up for month."

"Thanks, you're the best," Renji seemed to brighten slightly.

"You know," Kira tucked the flower in his sleeve for safe keeping, "there is potential solution to your problem."

"Sneak in through the servants' entrance?"

"Well yes, but I was thinking bigger picture. You could just tell her how you feel."

"I can't do that," Renji automatically answered. Kira understood it to some extent. He had spent 45 years hiding how he felt about her and the prospect of actually coming clean about his feeling must be terrifying. He also didn't put it past Rukia to cease all contact with him if she didn't feel the same way. But there was another side to the argument, she could feel the same way. In fact, Izuru was pretty sure that she did but she was too proud to say anything first. They were so screwed up but the Romantic and the friend in him just wanted them to work it all out, or at least not make it any worse, not like it had been at first.

45 years ago

Izuru munched his pear as he read through a very interesting text on Kido theory he had borrowed from Momo. The other cadet in question rushed through his door with barely a knock. Sometimes she was worse than Renji because he knew that she had been raised better than that.

"Have you heard?" She said in a rush.

"Have I heard what?"

"About Rukia?" For a moment his stomach dropped. He personally wasn't that close to the girl but he knew their friend Renji was as thick as thieves with her. If anything bad had happened, Abarai would be devastated. But Momo looked happy, not sad.

"What happened to Rukia, is she ok?"

"Yes, better than ok, actually. She was adopted by the Kuchiki Clan. Can you believe it? Apparently Captain Kuchiki came down here with his grandson Byakuya and they offered her a place as the heir's sister. I can't imagine even meeting a Kuchiki, much less being asked to join their family. That's only one small step down from Royalty. In the Soul Society it might as well be royalty. She will be a princess. Isn't it exciting?"

Kira frowned and rose. Momo was only seeing the good side of things but he, an actual noble, realized how touchy this would be. Rukia was from the Rukon probably one of the worst districts of it. She would probably never truly be accepted by those snobs. Not to mention, though she was tough and very smart, she was completely naive to the types of machinations that went on between the aristocrats. They would eat her alive. But his heart really went out for Renji. Abarai, who had been her supporter, friend, and lover for years would not even be worthy for her to look upon. The man-child that had protected her, lived with her, and loved her more anything would now forever be below her attention. He would finish first in their class, the strongest of them all and likely to be immediately seated but he would have to bow to the woman whose bed he had shared since they were children. Rukia had found a family and Renji had lost his.

He couldn't fathom why she had agreed, other than the fact that one did not generally say 'no' to a Kuchiki. Was she truly that greedy and that much of a social climber? Though the life of a Soul Reaper was not as glamorous as that of a noble, it was still 1000 times better than where they came from. Did she truly want to sever her ties with Renji? He doubted it. He saw the panic in her eyes when she thought Renji was pulling too far away from her. Then it dawned on him. She did it because the fool had told her to. Renji must have told her it was the right thing to do and damned them both.

"I'm going to go find Renji," he headed to the forest, hoping Renji would be out there. He didn't have the sixth sense his friend had for tracking but he knew Renji and knew he would seek solitude to mourn. By luck he stumbled upon the man tucked away from prying eyes. He would really have to tell him that if he wanted to hide, he needed to cover up his rather bright hair.

He snuck quietly near him, not making his presence known. Normally Renji would have sensed him, or smelled him, but he was too bound in his own grief. He sat on a fallen tree, head in his hands, crying. Equally as disturbing as the sight, was the total lack of sound. Where had he learned to cry so silently? Kira wandered, balking at the sight. It was so unlike the Renji he had known for the last 4 years. Renji was loud, enthusiastic, and impetuous. He didn't sit still or quietly.

Izuru felt like a voyeur, spying on a most intimate moment. Renji was proud, to the point of idiocy actually, and never allowed others to see him in pain. He laughed off harsh insults and broken bones without so much as a flinch. Seeing him so broken was a kick in the gut Kira hadn't been prepared for. He stood in indecision for a moment longer before settling on leaving, when Renji looked up at him. He didn't think he had ever seen anyone look quite so lost and lonely but it made sense. Before they joked they were a dog pack of two, now they were a stray dog and a princess.

"I did the right thing, didn't I?" he gasped, staring Kira straight in the eyes. He felt pinned to his spot, a mouse caught in a snake's gaze. He approached, sitting beside his friend but not touching him. "Please tell me I made the right choice," he begged.

"You did, Renji, you did," Izuru soothed, trying to think of anything to say that might help. But really, what could you say to someone that just ripped their own heart out.

"I broke my promise to her." He pulled at his unbound hair, looking wild and frantic. "I promised her I would always take care of her. How can I take care of her, if I'll never again be good enough to even look at her?" He sobbed once, fighting against losing control, "she'll hate me. She'll hate me for lying to her and breaking my promise."

"She won't hate you Renji, she never could. Even if you drift apart, deep down, she will always love you, just like you love her." He ventured one hand out and touched Renji's hair. It was just as soft as he had always suspected. "And you didn't break your word to her. You are taking care of her by telling her to have a better life. The Kuchikis aren't just a rich, noble family. They are THE rich, noble family. There is no door that is barred to them and no whim they are not permitted to cater to. She will have the best of everything Renji, trust me." Renji seemed to lean into Kira's touch and his heart sped up.

"That's what I told her, too," Kira moved a bit closer and wrapped his arm around his friend.

"You did the right thing," He repeated and felt Renji's shoulders shaking under him. He didn't really believe it but he knew he would never tell Renji that he thought he had made a mistake. He was worried what the man might do to himself right now, much less if someone didn't give him some validation.

"Why does doing the right thing make me feel like I'm dying?" Renji asked, placing his hand over his broken heart that Kira feared it would never be whole again.

"I don't know," he pulled his friend against him and Renji burring his face against Kira's leg and continued his inaudible crying. "I wish I did, but I don't." He hugged him, giving him what support he could while the man's heart was filled with grief. Kira's on the other hand was more filled with hate. Hate of Rukia for having Renji's heart and breaking it so easily; of the Kuchikis for thinking their family was more important than the one they destroyed, Renji for allowing his own insecurities to rend his relationship with Rukia asunder. But most of all, he hated himself for how much he was enjoying the feel of this man in his arms and that he was unsure if his counsel was for Renji's benefit or his own.

Present

Kira never really liked to think about that night. It was the one and only time he had ever seen Renji lose it. Not deaths of friends, betrayals of allies, or nearly being killed himself had moved him to tears the way letting Rukia go had.

"I know you think you can't but did it ever occur to you that she feels the same away but is too shy to say anything?" He countered, this was an old argument between them.

"She isn't shy and I don't want to risk screwing up our friendship. I don't think I could stand it, if she never talked to me again." They came to a fork in the path. One way was the ball and the other was Renji's lonely barracks. "Besides, I'm barely good enough to even be her friend. I have no right to try and court her as a lowly lieutenant."

"The only thing lowly about you, is your opinion of your worth." Kira sighed, "anyway, I'll see you later. I promise Shuuhei, Ran, and I will drink our own weight in sake just to cost him a lot of money." Renji gave him a smile and a bow before flash stepping away.

Rukia plastered on a pleasant smile as she greeted some other useless noble she was unlikely to remember. She hated these types of balls and parties mostly due to the mind numbing boredom and the fact Renji never went to them. The only one that seemed to dislike them more, was Nii-sama. She sipped her drink and watched the array of multicolored couples swirling on the dance floor again missing her best friend. Suddenly she felt a shadow fall over her and knew someone had flash stepped to her side.

The figure moved in front of her and bowed low, proffering a purple flower, "a gift from our mutual friend," she looked into Lt. Izuru Kira's perpetually red rimmed eyes that for once were smiling and both visible. "He begs that you accept this gift and his forgiveness for not being here." She took the flower and couldn't help but smile, damn well knowing none of this was Renji's idea.

"Well I'll have to thank our mutual friend for his gift," she worked the flower behind her ear and handed Kira a drink. "Did he have any other messages for me?"

"Only that you do this poor humble servant the honor of a dance in his stead." He downed his drink in one gulp, "would you, Lady Kuchiki?"

"Of course, Sir Kira," she winked at him and allowed him to lead her onto the floor. He was one of Renji's few friends that she actually liked. Oh, she put up with Ikkaku, Hisagi, and Rankigu but she actually liked Izuru.

The two waited for a new song then began to twirl around the floor. "Renji was pretty freakin' pissed he didn't get to come tonight." Kira interrupted her counting steps.

"Why, he never comes to these things anyway, why should this one be any different?"

"You usually don't pay so much attention to the host," he enlightened her almost causing her to misstep.

"Then he should have sucked it up and shown his face." She knew Renji always felt out of place and self conscious at these sort of events because he wasn't nobility or even gentry. She usually spent most of the evening trying to coax him out of whatever corner he was hiding in trying not to look so tall, striking, and menacing. Either that or he acted so unnaturally formal and enthusiastic that it was pathetic. She knew he never felt like he could be himself and she often felt the same way, not that she could blame him because most of these twits wouldn't accept him.

"He wasn't invited."

"I didn't know," she sighed, wishing she could leave and go find him. The idea of spending the evening sacked out on his floor laughing about the week's events sounded infinitely more fun than being trussed into an uncomfortable kimono and completely impractical headdress. She knew Renji would never require all this pomp and finery. He liked her best relaxed and in uniform.

"Did I ever tell you about Momo and me trying to teach him how to dance?" She shook her head. "It was dreadful. Somehow he managed to have four left feet. I was sure Momo would never walk again after as many times as he stomped on her or kicked her in the shins." He chuckled, just remembering. "She refused to help anymore and I thought we would have to give up. It just made no sense how the same guy that could learn even the most complex katas in under a day couldn't figure out how to dance."

"Because it doesn't have to do with fighting. His attention span regarding anything not related to food or fighting his about 2/10th of a second," Rukia joked, though to be fair it was more food, fighting, or fucking.

"Ah, but that's what saved him. I had a stroke of genius and told him to think of it like a combat move and he picked it up in less than 10 minutes. Now I think he's a better dancer than me," he pouted for effect.

"Maybe but at least you aren't 8 feet tall." Renji really was a very good dancer but not many women were tall enough to partner well with him. He always had to shorten his steps to suit her or Momo, since they were the only two people he ever danced with. She imagined he would look quite nice with Matsamoto and immediately hated the thought and decided it didn't matter. Captain Kyouraku was the same height and he could partner with anyone.

"True enough," the song ended and he bowed to her. "So do you forgive him for not keeping you company tonight?"

"I suppose, as long as I get to monopolize your attention." She teased him, knowing that there were no women here that interested Kira. In fact, she happened to know from Momo that there were no women anywhere that interested Izuru.

"Oh, I suppose. I mean if Renji deals with you all the time, I can put up with entertaining a Kuchiki for a few hours," he winked at her. Maybe the evening wouldn't be a total bore.

"Excuse, do you mind if I cut in?" she looked up to meet warm brown eyes framed by silver hair.

"Of course, Captain Ukitake. Besides, I have another promise to Renji I need to fulfill that involves myself, Rangiku, Shuuhei, and a lot of expensive sake." Kira bowed to them both.

"Well since Shinsui has already started trying to drink his family out of house and home, I suggest you start looking for them over there." Ukitake pointed towards his tall friend, who for once was actually shaved and dressed nicely. He then gently took Rukia's hand and began to lead her back onto the dance floor, "shall we?"

"Of course, Captain," she beamed at her beloved captain. She was not fool enough to think that her squad was the strongest or the toughest. They didn't have stealth like the 2nd, raw power like the 1st, fighting prowess like the 11th, or even skills like the 6th but they were a family. The 13th was where orphans went to find a home and she had found one with her soft hearted captain.

"I'm glad to see you were feeling well enough to come to the party," she tried to strike up a conversation. Though Ukitake was always kind, she sometimes felt like she wasn't interesting enough for him, not after someone like Captain Kyouraku.

"Oh, I feel great actually. The infernal ailment comes and goes and right now it's gone, at least for a while." He spun them both, setting his hair arching around them. "I see you have been spending time with Shigeru-kun, have you danced with him yet?"

She swatted his arm lightly, "stop trying to play match maker. But no I have not danced with him, nor am I likely to after finding out he slighted my friend."

"Which friend and how?"

"Renji, he purposely did not invite him, yet invited the other lieutenants. That was very rude." She pouted, getting more and more angry about it. Renji' could be so sensitive about strange things and she really hoped this wasn't one of them. He was such a pain in the ass, when his ego was bruised.

"Well do you really blame him?"

"Excuse me," she snapped, more interested in defending her friend than pleasing her captain. "Just because Renji isn't a noble doesn't mean he isn't good enough to be invited to some stupid party. He invited Matsumoto and Hisagi and both of them are from lower Rukon districts. Renji has earned the right to hold his head up high as a lieutenant regardless of where he came from or that he used to serve in the 11th. He is also the strongest non captain in the 13 Court Guard Squads and deserves to not be treated like a pariah."

"Relax, Rukia, I meant no insult to Lt. Abarai. I only mean that Shigeru is a bit intimidated by Renji and rightly so. He didn't intend to slight him so much as allow himself to pay court to you without your somewhat dangerous guard dog around."

"That's a stupid reason to hurt Renji's feelings." She harrumphed. "And he has no reason to be threatened by Renji, he's just posturing. If he really planned to bite, he wouldn't bother barking first."

"I disagree. If you are this upset on Abarai's behalf, then maybe he does have something to worry about." He inclined his head to her in that way that said, 'think about it.'

"I just told you, Renji wouldn't really hurt him."

"I didn't mean he was afraid of Renji's skill, so much as afraid of the position he holds in your life."

"He's my friend, my oldest and best friend." She defended, tired of always having to explain it.

"As long as that's all you feel for Abarai then I suppose he has nothing to worry about," Ukitake smiled at her as the dance finished and he led her over to where Shinsui, Hisagi, Rankigu, and Kira were watching Nanao stalk off in a huff. She accepted a glass of watered down sake from Izuru.

"What did you say now, Shinsui?" Jushiro rolled his eyes at his friend.

"Nothing, I just told her more men would dance with her if she showed off her cleavage."

"You're a horrible person."

"I know," Captain Kyouraku droned in his usual voice, "but you love me anyway." He winked and started petting Ukitake's hair, making all of the lieutenants not used to him very uncomfortable. After a few pets, he turned to Rukia, "Nanoa-chan will not dance with me," he pouted.

"I wonder why?" Rukia asked. In a setting like this, where rank was noble rather than martial, she had no trouble holding her own against him. If they had been in uniform she never would have dared.

"Are you going to be cruel too? I just don't understand what all you women are about these days." He draped his arm over his silver haired friend. "If no ladies will dance with me, I will simply have to dance with my handsome Jushiro," he took his hand and started to drag him towards the floor, Ukitake protesting all the way. "The only way to save your Captain is for you to grant me a dance, Lady Kuchiki." He raised his eyebrows and smiled at her.

"To save my Captain, I shall make the ultimate sacrifice and dance with you," she bowed to him stiffly even as he grabbed her and swung her onto the floor for a fast paced song. He was unquestionably the best dancer in all of Soul Society and she secretly felt honored. "So have you brought me out here to play match maker as well?" she questioned.

"Never my dear, unless it's to me" he winked.

"Your friend is trying to set me up with your nephew."

"My friend is a hopeless romantic that wants everyone to be happy," he spun them so quickly she couldn't even make out distinct shapes anymore.

"You don't think I'm a good match for Shigeru?" she raised an eyebrow at him, something she had been practicing, as it always annoyed her Renji could do it and she couldn't.

"I have no opinion on the matter. I do however think it won't work because your heart won't let it."

"You think my heart is too cold?" she teased, almost afraid of what he would say.

"Not at all, my dear. Your sword maybe cold but heart is definitely not. I simply mean that you never would have asked me that question if you knew yourself. If you head would stop getting in the way of your heart, your soul would easily tell you the answer."

"But what's the question?" She asked him.

"I can't tell you that either."

"You talk in riddles."

"I'm old, it's a boon of great age to confuse the young." The dance ended and he dipped her dramatically, leaning over her nearly kissing her neck. "And occasionally fondle them as well."

"You are incorrigible," she swatted at him with her fan, trying to regain the light mood she felt before talking to him. Though he was lax and often lazy, few ever doubted his counsel, if he bothered to give it.

They made their way back to the small group and were met by Shigeru, who smiled and bowed at her politely. She noticed the huge smile on her captain's face and smiled back. She agreed to a dance and then another all the while wondering what Captain Kyouraku could have meant Shigeru was nice enough and very pleasant on the eyes. He was funny and charming as a noble should be, yet rarely were, but there was just something so shallow about him. Like his cushy life had somehow made him less of a person than her, Renji, or even Nii-sama. Then she realized she probably wasn't being fair. Few people could compare to Renji or Byakuya.

Before she knew it, she had spent nearly an hour in his company but couldn't really remember what they had talked about. They stood near her captain and his friend, when she saw her brother approach Yoruichi not far behind him. Without even thinking about it, she stood up straighter. "Good evening, Nii-sama, Lady Yoruichi," she bowed formally to them both.

"Rukia," he did not bother to talk to anyone else. It always sort of amused her that for someone so highborn, he could be incredibly rude without realizing it or maybe he did know and just didn't care. "You would do well to watch with whom you spend time this evening. You would not want to become the fodder for gossips."

"Of course," she immediately wondered if she had spent too much time with anyone, or maybe it was because she had danced with too many people. She hated how one word from him could make her question herself and scamper to please him. It was like a freaking sickness with her.

"Oh don't be that way, cap'n," Rangiku slurred, staggering up to lean against Lord Kuchiki's shoulder. "No one spreads rumors about Rukia taking the walk of shame from Renji's quarters every Sunday morning." She giggled and he glared. Rukia seriously thought about walking over there and knocking the drunkard out, especially if Nii-sama decided that Rukia couldn't spend the night with Renji anymore. "Besides, everyone knows Renji'ld beat up anyone that talked shit about his," she made quotation marks with her fingers and baby talked, "little girl."

Byakuya looked at her briefly before taking a step back so she fell fast first on the floor. "Just be cognizant of how your behavior could be interpreted by others, please."

"You know, Bya-kun," Yoruichi tilted her head sideways and looked at him, seeming very cat like, "the best way to stop gossips from discussing the Kuchiki sister dancing with a Kyouraku son is for the Lord of Kuchiki to dance with the Lady of Shihoin."

"I fail to see how that would help." Byakuya droned. Rangiku still had not gotten up and Rukia was pretty sure she was asleep.

"Because, why would anyone care what pups that won't inherit are doing when the two unmarried heads of the most powerful houses are cavorting together."

"I have no desire to cavort with you."

"Then dance with me," she took his hand and he sighed.

"Very, Lady Shihoin, you have a compelling argument and it is important to protect Rukia's reputation."

The dance floor immediately cleared as the two richest and possibly most beautiful people in the room took center stage. The band began and the two moved in perfect unison as if they had been made to fit together. Most of the room stood entranced watching their skill and grace and Rukia thanked her lucky stars it was not her being stared at like that. Sometimes she never understood how her brother put up with so much attention all the time.

"Damn it all to hell," the spell was broken by Soi Fon's curse.

"Really Soi Fon, you can't expect her to spend all her time with you," Ukitake tried to soothe her.

"I am not angry that she left my side, I'm pissed because she bet me $100 she could get him to dance with her before the end of the night."

"Consider yourself lucky, little one, we bet Byakuya $500 a piece that he couldn't get Yoruichi to ask him to dance," Shinsui moaned. "I mean really, what do those two need with our money, they are both richer than god?"

"Do don't suppose they are in cahoots with each other, do you?" Ukitake asked and they all looked a bit closer to try and read anything on either perfectly schooled mask.

"Rukia," Shigeru tapped on her shoulder, "take a walk with me." He held his arm out and she decided to take it. She had no desire to have her brother's close scrutiny while in public. They walked through the back entrance and out to an open court yard. "This is the house I used to spend summers in as a kid," he explained, as they walked. "I used to love to come out here to catch fireflies and play tag with my sister." She said nothing, not really having anything to say. The place was idyllic and so different from where she and Renji grew up. They ran because speed was the only thing that kept them alive and they only chased bugs if they were very, very hungry. "I know it is nothing compared to Kuchiki Manor, but I still have fond memories of it." He looked at her and she knew she was expected to say something.

"That's nice," was all she could come up with. She had never been good at small talk unless she was acting.

"Anyway," he led her towards a smaller out building and she wondered if he would make a pass at her. She was no virgin but certainly wasn't about to jump in the sack with him, regardless of how good looking he was. "This is what I wanted to show you," he opened the door to reveal a work shop. On almost every available surface was colored papers and folded origami. Most impressive were the strings and strings of cranes in every color of the rainbow.

"Senbazuru," she gasped, completely shocked.

"Yup," he led her to a table and pulled out a stool for her then took one for himself.

"They are beautiful," she gasped, running her finger along a delicate edge, "and there are thousands of them."

"Thank you," he beamed. "I've been making them since I was a little kid. I started when I was about 6 or so. Uncle Shiro was really sick. Everyone thought he was going to die, even Uncle Shinsui was resigned to him dying and my parents took me and my sister over to say goodbye. My tutors had just told me the story about making cranes for the sick, so I thought if I made him a crane, he would get better. So I spent all night trying to make him one and they were god awful," he smiled. "Anyway, I gave it to him and he eventually got better. As a dopey kid, I thought it was my crane that saved him so every time he got sick or I heard him cough, I made him a crane." He swept his hand around at all of the little birds, "he's sick a lot."

"I guess he is," she continued to look around. "That is a very nice thing to do for him. I've seen these sitting around his rooms and his office but never knew where they came from."

"Well, Uncle Shiro is my favorite uncle," he winked at her and she found herself smiling back at him. "Would you like to learn how to make one?"

"I don't know, I'm not very artistic."

"Don't worry it's easy, and I'll help you," he pulled out two pieces of paper and started to walk her through how to fold the paper to make a crane. Her first attempt was pitiful, her second was even worse, and her third was laughable. She was about ready to give up, when he took her hands and began to help her fold the paper. His hands were cool and soft, so different from the rough heat of Renji's. The crane came out nearly flawless. "There, not so hard," he gave her a shy smile, looking up through his long lashes, making him look adorable.

"Easy for you," she swallowed and smiled, wondering why it suddenly seemed extremely warm in there, almost uncomfortably hot. He leaned in a bit and she realized he was going to try and kiss her. She blurted out, "do you know how to make a snake?"

"A snake?" he tried to hide his disappointment but bounced back, "yes, there is a hard way and an easy way."

"Easy please," she moved away from him a bit, feeling cooler and more comfortable, as he walked her through how to make a very goofy looking snake. She was insanely amused thinking what Renji would say.

*******

Renji was bored stiff. Normally Saturday nights were his and Rukia's nights. They would sneak into the human world and watch movies, hang out with Ichigo and Orihime, or just wander around the Soul Society talking and enjoying each other's company. But tonight was Shigeru's party, and Rukia was there probably looking beautiful and being charming. Ok, maybe not really that charming, since this was Rukia he was thinking about. He still thought it was patently unfair that he was the only Lieutenant other than Yachuri that hadn't been invited. Not that it mattered, he guessed, what would he do at a fancy noble party like that, serve drinks?

He finished wrapping the bandages around his throbbing forearms, choosing a sleeveless top like Hisagi's, and made his way to the 11th, hoping for a good fight. Lately things had been a little too quiet and he was itching for a good knock down drag out with someone. He suspected part of the reason his tattoos were taking so long to finish was from lack of fighting. And they were driving him nuts. Yesterday the burning itch had been so bad he had dragged his nails across his arm, tearing off a 3 inch sheet of skin that had only just stopped weeping. He had dunked his entire arm into Byakuya's water fountain for relief, all the while listening to Snaketail hiss at him about patience. Stupid Zambimaru, his sword couldn't be quiet and strong like Senbonzakura, kind and beautiful like Sode no Shirayuki, or even funny like Kazeshini. Oh no, his was a gender bending weirdo, that belittled him at every opportunity and liked to graffiti tag him and kept him up at night as its head argued with its own ass. But it didn't matter, Zambimaru was his and he loved them. Sometimes, he felt like they were his only friend, even though he was still thankful that he went back to the nue rather than Chimpette and Snaky. That had just been weird.

"Come on guys, let's go amuse ourselves." Renji grabbed his sword and stepped outside only to spy Rikichi and Hanataro walking back from the mess hall. They both stopped smartly saluting him. He wondered if he ever would get used to that.

"Good evening Lieutenant-senpai, I'm surprised you aren't at the fancy party." Rikichi chattered to him. He loved the kid but he really talked too much sometimes.

"What would someone like me do at a party like that?" he smiled, "So what are you two about this evening? Trying to take advantage of the lack of senior level officers?" he raised an eyebrow and noticed Hanataro paling slightly. He seriously doubted they planned anything bad but it was so easy to scare them both.

"Absolutely not, sir, we would never." Yamada stuttered, and Rikichi stared at him like he had grown a second head.

"Relax, man, Lt. Abarai was just joking,"

"But he was in the 11th," Hanataro whispered to his friend.

"Yeah, but he's in the 6th now and he isn't like those other guys. He won't do anything to you."

"Has someone in the 11th been screwing with you, Han?" Renji asked seriously. Sometimes he balked at all the rigid discipline that Kuchiki kept over his men but in some ways it was better than the complete chaos of Zaraki's squad. Renji would beat the holy loving crap out of any of his men if they were harassing members of the 4th.

"It's nothing, sir," the young medic looked down, clearly embarrassed.

"It's true, sir, they take his food, beat him up, bully him. Two of them even broke his arm and tried to shave his head," Rikichi gave his friend up.

"Come with me," he started walking toward the 11th, "and I'll need names."

"Why?" Hanataro asked.

"So when we get to the 11th, I can have a little chat with them."

"Just to talk?"

"If by talk, you mean beat the living shit out of, then yes, Han, talk." Renji smiled, "then you can stick around and watch me and Ikkaku go at each other."

"Why?" Hanataro looked appalled.

"Because I'm bored." Renji answered and didn't miss Yamada's statement to his friend.

"He sounds just like someone from the 11th."

They arrived at the training dojo to a good chunk of the lower levels training and Yumichika doing paper work. Chi had changed a lot since the war at least his looks. He had grown his hair back out to his waist and usually wore it with the top braided back, the front in 10 braids with azure or white rose beads, and the back hanging free. His eye and hair color had also changed some. Like Renji, his zanpakto thought it needed to mark him and had made his black hair have an ever changing purple and blue iridescence like a bird's feather. His eyes did the same thing now, when he drew his blade. When he actually released it into a full shikai, his eyes actually turned blue. If anything it all just made him even prettier.

What weren't prettier were his scars. He had been captured after the war by the remnants of Aizen's men and tortured. Whatever they had done to him had left such bad burn marks on him that not even Unohana was able to heal him. He kept them covered with a high collar and gloves and Renji knew that no one other than himself and Ikkaku were ever allowed to see them. He had even seen evidence of the other scars his stay in Aizen's camp had left, but they weren't visible to the naked eye. In a way, he felt honored that Yumi trusted him so much. He returned that trust by treating him the same as he always had.

He plopped down beside his friend, "what's shaking gorgeous?"

"Abarai, I see you brought me two yummy little strays." Chi tossed his hair, making the beads clink together. "You know, young man, if you wish to emulate this one, you should consider aiming for his height rather than his bizarre lack of eyebrows."

"Quit makin' fun of my eyebrows, featherface!" Renji roared, more for show anything. Yumichika gave him a smile and raised his eyebrow, even as Renji reclined back onto one elbow and his legs stretched in front of him. "Where's your balder half?"

"Dropping off some fools at the 4th. He should be back soon, since I'm assuming you wish to spend time trying to kill each other."

"Aww, I don't really want to kill him, just maim him some," he winked, making Chi shake his head. "Speaking of the 4th, I'm looking for two of your men," he cracked his knuckles, "I need to have a talk with them about the way they treat my friend Hanataro here."

"It's those two in the corner, acting as if they even know which end of a sword to swing. Tessen, Shibu," he called with his quiet authority.

"Hai, Ayasegawa-san," the two immediately appeared but not on their knees as Renji had become used to in the 6th.

"Do you know who this is?" he inclined his head slightly towards Renji.

"Yes, that's Lieutenant Abarai, from the 6th," Tessen curled his lip slightly, like it was an insult.

"Yes, and beforehand he spend 30 years serving in the 11th." The two stood a bit straighter as they regarded the red head that still hadn't even sat up straight. "He is a close personal friend of both myself and Madarame-san and he wishes to have a word with you."

"Why?" This time it was Shibu asking, as his eyes strayed to where Hanataro was trying to hide behind Rikichi.

"I hear you two like to fight," Renji batted at one of the peacock feathers Yumichika had braided into his hair, the stripes on his bare arms making him seem almost tigerish. "I thought maybe I could school you bit." He finally sat up, "what do you think?"

"We would be honored, Lieutenant." Yumichika cleared the floor for their bout and waved his hand that it was safe to begin.

No zanpaktos were drawn, as this was training. The two attacked Renji blindly, not even bothering to work in tandem, completely bush league as far as he was concerned not to mention going against the 11th credo of fighting one on one. He corrected the way Shibu swung and had him attack again, this time marginally better. "So, I guess you must be wondering why I chose you two to work with," they both nodded. "Well, I trust you know my friend over there, Hanataro Yamada." Shiba actually laughed at that.

"You mean that pansy from the 4th? Yeah we know 'im."

"I hear you have been causing him problems," their collective chuckle was answer enough and Renji made his move. Without even breaking into Flashstep, he disarmed and dislocated one's shoulder and had the other pinned to ground, standing on his neck in less than 3 moves. "If I ever hear that you are causing him problems again, I'll make sure to beat you so badly you end up in the 4th and then you better hope that he isn't as petty as I am about grudges because sometimes all that stands between you and the great beyond is a good healer."

He let Tessen up and Shibu knelt on the floor clutching his shoulder. Tessen roared at him, drawing his sword and attacking, "you bastard, you defend cowardly filth like him rather than your own former squad mates." He suspected the stupid move was part bravado, part anger, and part embarrassment.

Renji caught his sword barehanded, and flicked his wrist, cracking it in half. The blade hadn't even broken his skin. It was so much cooler when he did it to someone else rather than Kuchiki doing it to him. Tessen looked completely shocked as he looked down at his broken zanpakto, even more so, when he felt Renji holding the other half to his throat. "Not so much fun having to fight someone stronger than you, is it?" he asked as Tessen lowered himself into a submissive posture. "Now take your friend over there and apologize to my friend and if you are lucky he will heal you both. If not, you can explain to Zaraki why you are out of commission." They scurried off and Renji discarded the blade.

"All that drama over them picking on some limp dick from the 4th?" Ikkaku questioned him.

"You know Renji, always sticking up for the underdog," Yumichika threw in, still mostly concentrating on his paperwork.

"Limp dick or not, that guy's saved my life more times than Ichigo has and is willing to occasionally bend Unahano's rules." He watched Ikkaku stretch out as he came towards him. There was never any question that the two would face off now on mostly equal footing.

"Yeah, whatever," they waited for everyone to settle down to watch. "So what are you doing here tonight, Ren-ji?" Madarame drawled the name. "Shouldn't you be with your bauble headed girlfriend, it is Saturday?"

Renji ground his teeth together, trying not to get annoyed at Ikkaku. "Hey, she is not my girl friend and if you insult her again, I will cut your dick off and have it bronzed for Yumichika to set on his nightstand while he's in my bed," he sneered.

"Good one," he smiled then drew his blade and yelled, "Extend Hōzukimaru!"

Renji countered with his own cry of "Howl Zabimaru!" and the two clashed. They fought for some time with neither gaining the upper hand. While they were equal in strength, Madarame had greater experience but Renji was faster. The 11th cheered for Ikkaku, even as Renji had his own private section with Rikichi and Hanataro.

Just as it looked like it might go on all night, Renji feigned left then dodged right, whipping his blade out then flashstepping fast enough to bank it off itself three times, creating a web around Ikkaku, then quickly contracting it so the older man was trapped with his arms pinned and Zabimaru constricting him like a snake.

"Shit kid, you have gotten fast." Ikkaku complimented him as he struggled only to have the blade encase him even tighter.

"Sparing against Captain Kuchiki and Lady Shihoin will do that. I still look like a toddler trying to keep up with them though." He released his hold and sealed Zabimaru back, sheathing him. He was just about to accept a draught of sake from Yumichika when everyone felt the intense spiritual pressure that heralded the arrival of Captain Zaraki.

"So what is this that my 3rd seat lost to another squad's member?" he asked, his voice seeming to reverberate through the room.

"Look, Ken-chan it's Red! Red beat up Pachinko head," Yachuri laughed, clapping her hands. The girl was a holy terror but deep down, Renji thought she was adorable. Being around her for any extended period of time, especially if she was in a nice faze, always made Renji think about having kids. He constantly pictured what his and Rukia's children might look or act like. He never left Rukia out of the equation because he could never picture loving anyone else enough to want a family with them.

"I can see that." Zaraki turned to his former squad member. "So you came itching for a fight, well let's have at it." he drew his sword and swung before Renji could even draw his own. All he could do was dodge. "So you all you learn from your new captain was how to move out of the way, typical." He sneered and Renji felt somewhat insulted.

"That's not all," he finally drew his blade and used and intricate flashstep move to get behind the captain and slash. He drew blood, but not enough to even slow the man down. That right there was the biggest difference between fighting Zaraki and Kuchiki. It was almost impossible to actually land a hit on Byakuya because he was so damn fast and skilled, though it was possible to hurt him if you could. Zaraki was the opposite. It was easy to land a hit on him because he wasn't actually that good of a fighter, relying too much on brute strength, but it was almost impossible to actually hurt him.

"Figured he would have taught you some of that pansy ass kido he likes so much." Renji barely made it out of the way in time.

"Nah, I still suck balls at kido." he bounced sideways, trying and failing to avoid a swing that sent him flying backwards through a wall but he did land on his feet. Kenpachi then jumped into the air and brought his blade down towards Renji.

"And right now is when he ends up with two broken arms," Ikkaku joked with Rikichi and Hanataro as he and Yumichika shared a bottle of sake. However, when the smoke cleared, Renji was down in a perfect low side stance, blade above his head, blocking Kenpachi's strike. He quickly swept his extended left leg out and used his right leg to spring back up, trying to knock Zaraki's legs out from under him. It didn't work but he did force the older man out of attack range.

"Not bad, Red." He stood down for a moment as Renji unlocked his fingers from his hilt, grabbing his left thumb with his right fingers and yanking. A sickening, wet snap could be heard as he popped the joint back into place then repeated the process with his right thumb. The strength of Zaraki's hit had dislocated both of his thumbs. "You ready to go again or give up?"

"I've learned a lot of things from Captain Kuchiki, but giving up is not one of them, so let's dance." He summoned his shikai and whipped it towards Kenpachi, hoping to catch him off guard.

He batted the blade aside without even breaking a sweat. "If we are going to play, son, then let's play," he smiled widely, showing all his teeth and Renji suddenly felt this whole thing was a horrible idea but backing down had never been his style. "Let me see your bankai."

"Sir, no offense but Hihio Zabimaru would rip this building apart and my Captain would kill me if he had to pay to fix up your practice room."

"My squad will pay for it," he attacked, "and stop calling me sir, I ain't your uptight lord of a captain."

"Ok, you asked for it," he darted between several strikes so he had enough room to move and summoned his bankai. He knew he didn't really have any hope of winning rather as whenever he sparred with any captain, his goal was to not embarrass himself completely.

He managed to hold his own for 20 minutes or so before Zaraki's strength and spiritual pressure managed to break his concentration and he lost control of his snake. He chose to pull it back into a sealed state instead of letting it fall into a 1000 fragments, a useful trick he had only recently learned. He was pretty sure he had a few broken ribs and maybe some internal bleeding, not to mention his thumbs hurt.

He looked up from his position on his back, with Kenpachi standing over him and decided he might as well go out with a bang, "there is one thing trick my captain taught me," he shot up and drove his sealed blade into Zaraki's leg, immediately releasing it. The blade expanded and when he yanked, it snapped the man's femur. He had seen Kuchiki do it to an arancar but it had been much more impressive than this because Senbonzakura tended to turn living things into pudding.

"Nice trick,' the captain complimented before tapping Renji's chest with his own blade. Renji collapsed backwards, panting and completely exhausted.

Ikkaku helped him up and Hanataro immediately set about healing his wounds. Just when he started to feel human again, Kenpachi came over. "I'm glad to see your pussy captain hasn't killed that fighting spirit of yours, lieutenant." Renji couldn't help the smile that spread across his face. Kuchiki trained with him and worked with him but never complimented him. When Kuchiki called him by his rank it always sounded vaguely derogatory, like he wasn't good enough. When Kenpachi did it, it felt like a show of respect. "Good job there, kid." Ikkaku looked about ready to kill something and Yumichika was fighting against a smile, at least that was the last thing he remembered before Zaraki gave him a congratulatory punch in the face. He felt his knees wobble and the next thing he remembered was waking up on the floor, the right side of his face pulsing with pain, his vision blurry, and his stomach rolling.

Rukia checked the flower was still in place and made her way to the 6th's offices, hoping to find Renji. Though she had had a good time last night, she wanted to see her friend. She opened to door and found him leaned over his desk, working on some report or other. His hair was out, blocking the right side of his face. He looked up at her as she walked in and she stared in horror at his badly swollen face. His right eye was black, blue and swelled shut. His cheek, all the way down to his jaw line was similarly puffy and purple.

"What the hell happened to your face? Did a mountain fall on you?" she immediately went to his side, and ghosted her fingers over the swollen right half of his face.

"I ran into Kenpachi." He explained and shied away as she touched just above his eye squinted up eye.

"What part of him?"

"His fists, repeatedly," she smiled at him and tucked his hair behind his ear.

"Well go to the 4th to have it fixed, idiot." She huffed at his stupidity.

"This is after it's been fixed." Ok, now she felt sort of bad for him.

"Aww, does it hurt?" he asked and he pulled back from her.

"No, you poking at it feels great."

"Jerk," she threw at him as she took out one of Nii-sama's handkerchiefs and summoned ice. She then softly pressed it to Renji's face. He hissed for a moment then leaned into the numbing cold. She smiled and kissed the top of his head, "you really look like shit."

"I defy you to take a hit from Kenpachi and look any better."

"You managed to stay on your feet?" she stroked his hair and he sagged even more against her. That was the thing with Renji, he was so proud that he turned incredibly prickly when he was hurt. The trick to helping him was just not giving him a choice in the matter.

"Well, I remember my knees feeling funny and waking up on the floor with Hanataro over me, but at least I didn't puke on him this time." He gave up all pretense of staying upright and sank to pillowed his head in her lap, while she held the cold compress against him. "How was the party?"

"It was fun. By the way," she made him sit up and kissed him sweetly on the lips. "Thanks for the flower, it's beautiful."

"You're welcome" he bit the side of his lip that wasn't split, "but it was Kira's idea."

"I know, you were out fighting the day the romantic gene was handed out," she poked fun at his cloddish behavior.

He put his head in her lap again, "Rukia?"

"Yeah."

"My face hurts," he almost whined.

"Come on," she pushed him up, "let's go back to your room and I'll get us some supper and I'll tell you about who danced with who, who got drunk, and what Nii-sama did to make Yoruichi blush." They spent the rest of the day in Renji's quarters eating, laughing, and talking. As the evening wound down, she was too comfortable with his head in her lap, stroking his hair to bother leaving so she lied down, while he told her about his fight with Tessen and Shibu and getting his ass handed to him by Zaraki. Deep down, she was insanely proud that he was even still alive much less only mildly maimed. He had grown so strong and she felt like sometimes people didn't recognize it and still saw him as just Rukon trash.

"Oh, I almost forgot," she sat back up, in the middle of his description of how he broke Kenpachi's leg.

"Do you have to leave," he sounded down at the prospect and she found herself wanting to hug him. For all that he was proud and despised letting anyone see him in pain, when he did permit you to help him, he tended to get adorably clingy.

"No," she reached into her sleeve and pulled out her goofy looking origami snake, "I made this for you last night," she handed it to him.

"What is it?" he unconsciously sniffed at it. It always made her laugh when he did that. He had an almost unbreakable habit of sniffing everything, especially if he was trying to figure out what it was.

"It's a snake, like snaketail."

"It looks like a crinkled paper tube," he looked at it from a few different angles.

"Idiot, I spent a lot of time on that, you could at least act like you like it." She shouted at him.

"Hey, don't get mad at me because you don't have any artistic talent." He defended himself and on reflex she swatted at him, hitting him in the face making him cringe in pain.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry. I should have hit you in the shoulder, not the face." She quickly summoned more ice and pressed it against his black and blue cheek and eye.

"It's ok, one day I'll learn to lie to you about your shitty art work."

"Jackass," she sneered at him, even as she started stroking his hair again to get him to relax the tension from pain.

"Bitch," he countered, snuggling more comfortably into her lap.

"So tell me how the rest of the fight went," and they continued their conversation long into the night. She really didn't see any reason to go home once it was past 10pm so they moved to his bed and assumed their usual positions with her under the sheet and him above but still under the blanket. She didn't know why it was necessary but he always insisted they did slept that way to protect her "honor" though according to Matsumoto it was gone anyway. She didn't worry about it though and fell asleep cuddled against him like she always enjoyed doing.

TBC


	3. Taking the Dog for a Walk

A/N: I got bored and decided to write a Bleach fic. Set 5+ years after the current Anime story line. As a general rule, I assume they are speaking in Japanese to each other so therefore do not need to add in any extraneous bits. The only time I use it, is when there is no English equivalent.

A/N 2 I also changed the way Rikichi addresses Renji, as I realized he should probably use Sensei rather than Senpai, given how far above him Renji is.

Thanks for the reviews they always help the "process."

Enjoy

Disclaimer: I own nothing probably not even the idea.

**Chapter 3: Taking the Dog for a Walk**

Captain Kuchiki watched his sister primp and pomp herself in her mirror. Her new kimono perfectly fitted. Too bad she planned to spend the evening sitting in the dirt watching fireworks. It was Doll Festival after all and she always spent the night with Renji sitting by the river watching the fireworks. He never went, not that they hadn't invited him but frankly the idea of spending an evening around thousands of single women and their conniving mothers was about as appealing as spending the evening listening to Kenpachi singing Chinese operas.

The best part of the whole thing really was that it cheered Renji up. His lieutenant had been crabby, brooding, and snappish for weeks now because Rukia was dating that overstuffed skin sac of uselessness, Shigeru. But for most of the day he had been giddy and practically walking on air. He knew he really should talk to the man about allowing others to affect his moods so easily but frankly he just couldn't be bothered. And besides, maybe he should be talking to Rukia about not neglecting her friends just because someone else was paying attention to her.

He couldn't help but soften his expression when he saw her secure her hair with a purple and white hair clip. He still remembered what a fuss that thing had caused.

3 years ago:

_Byakuya watched his Lieutenant fidget nervously, alternately bouncing his long legs up and down and tugging on his hair. He waited patiently for whatever explosion the younger man was about to make. Over the years, he had become far better at reading Renji's moods, not that it was hard. The man had virtually no ability to hide his true feelings or true intentions but even still. Byakuya was correct almost down to the second of Renji's voice breaking the silence._

"_Sir, can I ask you something?" He didn't look up, making Renji stew._

"_No, apparently not," Byakuya droned. One day he would break the little worm of prefacing all his actions with a request for permission. That was how servants and commoners acted, not men he was personally preening to be a captain, though sometimes he wondered why he bothered. _

_Undeterred, Renji sat in front of his Captain and started again, "would it be ok with you if I give Rukia a present for the Doll Festival?"_

"_I was under the impression that you gifted her with flowers every year," still not looking up. Every year, even during their estrangement, Renji would leave a bouquet of purple flowers for his friend. More than once, the redheaded rogue had even snuck into the Kuchiki manor to leave them by her door step. Byakuya would have been angry about it but he couldn't resist how happy his little sister would look upon seeing the scraggly bunch of wild flowers. Over the years, no amount of hot house flora or cultured roses could make her eyes light up the same way. He suspected it had more to do with the giver than the actual gift._

"_True, but this year I wanted to give her something in addition to flowers," he looked down and pulled out a small pouch from his sleeve and handed it to his captain. Byakuya opened it revealing a purple hair clip that looked nearly identical to the one Sode no Shirayuki wore. "I know it's just wire and glass but I thought she would like it," Renji stammered, "if you don't think it is appropriate for me to give it to her, you can, I just wanted her to have it." Renji seemed to think he needed to fill Byakuya's silence with his own voice. "Stupid I guess, huh, if you got it for her it would be gems and real gold." Still he remained silent, slightly in awe that his seemingly dimwitted second in command remembered so clearly what Rukia's Zanpakuto looked like. He of course remembered in excruciating detail how she looked even as he had sliced her in half and she contracted back into a broken sword, not one of his better moments. _

"_I'm sorry, sir, never mind, I should never have presumed," Renji continued. Byakuya always found it vaguely amusing that Renji could face down Espada and Captains with strength and daring but turned to a quivering ball of anxiety, when faced with any member of the Kuchiki household._

"_She'll love it, Lieutenant," he handed the clip back to Renji, who beamed happily at him. _

_He had been right, as he watched his second in command hand the small pouch to Rukia later that night. She had gazed at it, silent for so long Renji started to stutter an apology for giving her such a cheap gift. His moronic rambling became even more pronounced, when she looked up, with tears in her huge eyes. "Oh god, I'm sorry, you hate it so much it made you cry." _

_He had reached for the hair clip, intending to take it back and she slapped his hand away. "Stop apologizing, you giant oaf, I love it" She shot him a wavering smile through her tears then slowly and deliberately wrapped her arms around him, pressing her face into his chest. "It's perfect, it's absolutely perfect, Renji," she had whispered, so low he almost missed it. About that point was when Byakuya became resigned to the fact that he had only been suspicious of before. One day he may possibly end up with an over-sized, red-headed brother-in-law, which was why he was training him to be a captain._

Present

"Are you sure you don't want to come with us, Nii-sama?" Rukia returned him from his trip down memory lane with her question. She was still seated in front of her mirror but appeared to be finished primping. He would never understand why he practically had to corral her like a horse and order her to dress in a kimono for a noble ball but for a yearly festival with a friend she had known for 150 odd years, she would work tirelessly for the perfect look. Ok, maybe he did understand, he just chose not to think about it.

Just then a servant knocked to let them know Lt. Abarai was there. She snatched a purple flower from the bouquet by her bed, a gift from said Lieutenant, and took Byakuya's arm. "No, my dear, you two go and have fun. Doll festival is your special night, after all."

They stopped in front of Renji, who bowed low and formally to the head of Clan Kuchiki, "good evening, Captain." He turned to Rukia and smirked. "Wow, little girl, you clean up nice."

"Ha, ha, very funny."

"Just kidding, you look great, way too good to be walking around with a stray mutt like me."

"Well Nii-Sama refuses to join us so I'm stuck with you, I guess." She grinned at him, coyly, "I do know what would help, though." She artfully pinned the purple flower from her bouquet to his chest, right in front of his heart. "There, not quite perfect but marginally more presentable." The smile he graced her with so was so soft and happy that it was nearly unrecognizable on the usually feral face. "We'll be off then, I'll see you tomorrow," She waved at Byakuya, who raised an eyebrow at Renji.

"I'll have her home safe and sound, sir, don't worry."

"Of course you will," he smiled evilly, more for show than anything. He knew Renji would lay his life down for Rukia before letting anything happen to her. That was one of the reasons he trusted his Lieutenant to escort her without supervision. "And Rukia could use a new maid or maybe we need a new gardener's aid," he droned, at Renji, who smiled and blushed. He took a deep breath once their laughing voices faded, trying to decide how best to spend his first free night in months. A good long soak, a good meal, a good stiff drink, and a good long nap sounded simply perfect. He allowed a real smile to come across his face just thinking about it, until he felt something begin to twine through his legs. Looking down, a long tailed black cat sat down and stared at him. So much for his relaxing night.

The two friends strolled through the streets heading towards their customary spot on the half wall, down by the river. It afforded one of the best views of the fireworks plus a good deal of comfort. Renji carried the basket of necessities, mostly snacks and sake, that the servants had packed for her so her arms were free to wave at passersby. One of the things that most bothered her about being a Kuchiki, was the celebrity status. Rukia was a private person by nature, though not nearly as bad as her brother, and she hated that everyone knew her and wanted to talk to her. Renji, though, was an excellent deterrent. Few were willing to get too close to her with a 6'3" guard dog with a zanpakto able to go into bankai following her. It still didn't quite stop eager men from handing her flowers though.

"Hey, Renji, are all the squad assignments worked out now?" She questioned, just to start a conversation. She had been spending so much time with Shigeru lately, she hadn't realized how much she missed Renji. It wasn't even that she liked the second son of Kyouraku that much but her grandfather certainly did. Ginrei was obstinate and opinionated as any old timer but he also still held a huge sway in clan politics. Only Byakuya felt like he could ignore the man's counsel. And for once, he had something nice to say to Rukia, that an alliance with the Kyourakus would be good for them.

"Yeah, at least the ones for the 6th are. Hisagi gave me some trouble and I had to call in a favor with Matsumoto so he would agree to give me one lady he had but I think we got a pretty good crop this time." He talked as he eyeballed anyone that looked their way for too long.

"Did Ukitake give you any grief? I know he keeps saying that he needs to do something to help his troops be better fighters."

"No, he didn't have anyone I wanted." Renji waved his hand dismissively and it annoyed her. Ukitake was a great captain and she wasn't about to let Renji not show him respect.

She punched him in the arm and glared at him, "why didn't he have anyone you wanted? You too good for the 13th now?"

"Geez, don't get all defensive," he rubbed his arm.

"Then don't insult my unit," she huffed and grabbed onto his arm while they walked. Soon they reached the half wall they usually chose to watch the fireworks. When they had been younger, they would climb to the top of a roof or a tree to watch them and they would imagine that one day they could sit in the Seireitei and watch. When that day came, they found themselves always drawn back out into the wilds of the Rukon for the night. The boys used to always make such a fuss about her and now Renji was the only one left so he always strived to be there for her. For them Doll Festival was about the bond they shared with each other and their shared history.

Once settled, Rukia hopped onto the wall and pulled Renji to rest between her legs. She then set about putting intricate braids into his hair, woven with the flowers the other men had given her. She didn't care one bit for what other men gave her, it was all about Renji tonight.

"Why exactly are you trying to make me look gay?" he asked as he noticed the small petals in his hair.

"Keep other women away from you." she joked.

"Like there are throngs of other women after me," he scoffed, as usual not realizing that there were.

"As a side note," she asked, as she plopped down to settle between his legs. "I wonder why Nii-sama never wants to come with us. I mean he gives me some super expensive gift every year and wishes me well, but never wants to come to the festival." She wondered aloud. Though things had changed drastically between them and he was much more open about his affection, he still refused to ever join them for the festivities or really ever go anywhere with them for that matter. He seemed to only enjoy hanging out around the house like some weird anti-social agoraphobic. Even Ginrei, who had been so unfriendly to her for so long was more willing to be seen in public with her. In fact, lately they had been on numerous lunches, teas, dinners, and afternoon walks with Shigeru. She couldn't complain about the attention, she just wished the Kyouraku son was more interesting.

"Do you blame him?" Renji asked, his mouth already stuffed full of dainty food the servants had prepared. "This is Doll Festival. Every single woman and their mother is out and about tonight. And he is the most eligible bachelor in the Seireitei. Him showing up is like throwing chum in the water with sharks. He'd cause a feeding frenzy that would kill us all."

She punched his leg, but laughed all the same. "You really think of women as sharks, circling a meal?"

"Well not around me but around him yeah. The poor guy can't go anywhere without having some lady throwing herself at him, sometimes literally." Ok, she had seen that; stupid hapless ladies pretending to trip or swoon in front of him to gain his notice. It was all quite silly. Then she realized he only said it happened to Nii-sama and grinned, poor adorable, clueless Renji. If he spent half as much time paying attention to the women checking him out as he did to the men eyeballing her he might end up as much of a whore as Hisagi.

"And they only look at my brother?" she joked.

"Sometimes they bother Kira too but he never really seems that interested in dating. Guess he's more concerned with his career right now." He shrugged and she again lamented how completely oblivious he was. How in the hell could he not realize one of his oldest friends was gay. Not just gay but gay and completely in love with him.

"Wow," she smiled, "it's a really lucky thing that you are good looking because sometimes you are just dumb as a box of rocks." She looked back at him and he tilted his head like a confused dog making her laugh even harder.

The conversation was cut even shorter by a loud call of "in coming," to which Renji jumped up, spinning quickly to catch a black and pink blur in mid air. He proceeded to spin her around, then pin her on the ground, tickling her mercilessly. "Hi Red, happy Doll Festival." The little girl squealed between laughs.

"Right back at ya' Pinkie," Renji returned, as the lieutenant from the 11th sat up wrapping her small arms around his neck and hugging him. All the 'big brutes' of the 11th spoiled the little girl but Renji was one of her favourites, even after nearly 6 years in a new unit. Rukia supposed it was because he acted like a big kid. She would never admit it to anyone, but she always found it incredibly sexy when Renji played with kids. It always made her think about having a family and children of her own. She wanted kids someday and at night she would wonder if her black hair would darken up Renji's fiery red or if they would be overly tall or short like her and Renji. She always imagined Renji as the father because frankly, she couldn't imagine loving anyone else enough to have children with. She supposed she should start thinking about it with Shigeru, since that clearly seemed to be what her family wanted but deep down it made her sad. Somehow, she just always thought it would be her and Renji against the world.

"Hey, why do you have flowers in your hair?" Yachiru asked as she tugged on Renji's braids.

"Rukia was trying to make me look like I played for Ikkaku and Yumichika's team." Renji joked.

"Oh, you would be so wonderfully popular if you did, Renji-kun. Too bad you only have eyes for scrawny girls," Yumichika drawled at him, while gracefully settling himself on the wall behind and beside Renji.

"Only if I could have you, Chi," Renji joked, and rubbed his check against the much smaller man's leg.

"Quit trying to flirt with him before I have to beat the hell out of ya' again, Abarai," Ikkaku squatted beside his prettier half, making Renji smile that evil smile of his that meant he was up for the challenge of kicking the shit out of someone. Rukia didn't particularly care for either of them. Ikkaku had never really liked her and was often rude, disrespectful, and even downright threatening towards her. However, she preferred him to Ayasegawa. The 5th seat was never outright rude like his partner but there was something so strange and cold about him and it creeped her out almost on par with Ichimaru. She had no idea how Renji was such good friends with them.

"You promised me ice-cream, cue ball." Yachiru jumped up onto Ikkaku's shoulders.

"More sugar is clearly what you need," Yumichika joked as he plucked the little girl off of his lover and took her hand. She immediately calmed down, smiling at him. It always surprised Rukia to see the way she acted around the weirdo but she supposed having been held captive together by the Arancar's for a few months must have given them some sort of bond.

"Bye-bye Red, Bye-bye Byakushi's sister," the pink haired terror waved as she dragged the two ranking 11th officers off to find ice cream.

Rukia and Renji settled back down until the next interruption came, this time, in the form of Hanataro and Rikichi. "Evening Sensei," Rikichi called to him, "Lady Kuchiki," he bowed formally to her.

"Yo, what are you two up to tonight?" Rukia amused herself by playing the unbound portion of Renji's hair. She noticed he started to unconsciously play with hers as well.

"Just out and off duty, checking out the local sites," the younger man smiled.

"Trolling for a piece of ass?" Renji quirked an eyebrow at his student and his friend.

"Something like that," he smiled and she was surprised at how much he had grown up the last few years but then again she supposed that war would do that.

"Gave up on Momo?" It was a well known fact that Rikichi had a bit of a crush on Lt. Hinamori and Renji never failed to tease him about it. It was made all the funnier by how close Renji and Momo were.

"Only for now, besides, I'm too young to be a one woman kind of guy." He looked her and Renji up and down before adding, "maybe when I'm old like you, I'll be able to settle down." She hid her giggle at the joke. She liked Rikichi, he was a street kid just like her and Renji and he had the attitude to match it. She knew Renji was the one that brought him into the Seireitei and encouraged him to become a Soul Reaper and as such, the younger man worshipped the very ground Abarai walked on. Didn't stop him from getting a good dig at his Sensei now and again, though.

"Very funny, so, who do you have your eye on?"

"That one," Yamada finally spoke up and pointed towards a group of young women, who were looking over and smiling. Rukia glared at them and they averted their eyes.

"Ah, 12th seat Takada," he mused, "she's one of Hisagi's," he tilted his head sideways for a moment then said, "I'll tell you one of my best pick up lines but only because you are my student."

"Does it work?" Rikichi looked skeptical.

"All the time," Renji smiled.

"So you used it before you were pussy whipped?" Hanataro of all people said.

"Please, Yamada-kun, don't be ridiculous," she waved her arm as if to scold him, "I've had him whipped since before we even came to the Seireitei." She finished with a mischievous smile. He yanked her hair in retaliation. She would have turned around and continued the fight, if she weren't in a brand new kimono. After spending weeks with Ginrei and Shigeru, it just felt so freeing and fun to joke and relax with her best friend. Almost like she had released a breath she didn't know she was holding.

"The point," he said loudly, "is that it works."

"Ok, what is it?" Rikichi knelt beside him and Hanataro leaned it.

"Nice shoes, wanna' fuck?" he said with a straight face and she had to duck her head down not to laugh. That was a horrible line.

"Really?"

"Really. It's all about the confidence." Renji smiled, "just try it." Rikichi nodded and the two friends tried to look cool approaching the ladies.

"You totally just sent him to an embarrassing defeat." She pointed out as she shifted sideways to watch.

"I know," he hugged her tighter, nuzzling her hair. She noticed that some of the women in the group seemed to slump their shoulders when they saw the gesture. Serves the bitches right, for trying check out her Renji.

"Then why did you do it?

"Because that's how guys show affection for each other, by finding new and exciting ways to humiliate the shit out each other in front of women." She laughed at him and his plan but stopped as soon as she heard a familiar voice.

"Rukia, I'm surprised to see out this far," Shigeru smiled at her, his face boyish and handsome. "But I'm pleased, it gives me a chance to introduce you to the other ladies in my life."

"Of course, Shigeru," she jumped up, smoothing her hair and Renji rose as well.

"Rukia Kuchiki, this is my mother Lady Kyouraku," an older women with narrow features and a pointy chin smiled. "And this is my sister, Tossa," an extremely tall and thin woman with a horse face bowed deeply to her. She returned the bows and waited for Shigeru to introduce Renji but he said nothing.

"I'm pleased to meet you, and this," she began when Shigeru talked over her.

"That is just one of Byakuya's men," he said dismissively and reached for her hand. She wanted to bat it away and tell him to leave her alone but training and her grandfather's wishes won out and she followed him down toward the river. Renji started to follow, "oh, you can wait here, I'll keep an eye on her." All that calmness she had earlier seemed to evaporate as she pulled her noble mantle of behavior around herself.

Renji seemed indecisive for a moment then sat back down, "I'll just wait here for you, Rukia," he said.

Shigeru's smile faded for a moment, "what did you call her?" he questioned then continued without an answer, "how dare you refer to the Lady Kuchiki so commonly, mutt. If there weren't ladies present I would thrash you for your disrespect." He seemed to wilt at the scolding at the same time she saw his hands clench into fists. If the man even raised a hand to slap Renji, the redhead would destroy him, that was if she didn't do it first, pompous prick.

"Don't worry, Renji, I'll be back in a minute," she called to him, purposely using his first name.

Shigeru led them towards the river, out of earshot for Renji. Of course he didn't, in fact couldn't know how sensitive Renji's hearing was and that they would have to go much further, if they didn't want him eavesdropping. "Disgusting trash," the man mumbled as they walked. "Really, Rukia, when I stopped by your mansion and Ginrei-dono said you were at the festival with a guard, I assumed you would have chosen someone with a bit more class." She ground her teeth at the statement. Renji wasn't her guard, he was her date and he had more class and charm in regards to things that mattered to her and Shigeru did.

Not to mention this whole situation was reminding her of something that had happened between Kaien and Renji 40 years ago. Her resulting actions had made her feel worse than anything she had ever done before or since, even killing Lt Shiba. "Renji is my friend and escort plus a Lieutenant, not my personal guard," she couldn't help but snap. Where fuck did this pretty boy get off insulting her best friend?

"Sorry, my dear, I guess we all tend to get very protective over our servants." He smiled at her apologetically and again reached for her hand. "I have a Doll Festival gift for you," he produced a beautifully wrapped package and handed it to her. She unwrapped it to reveal a finely made silk fan. "Uncle Shiro said that you preferred cold and disliked heat so I thought it would be a fitting gift for the coming summer months." He smiled at her again, light coming into his big brown eyes. She had to admit, he was handsome, very handsome and it was a thoughtful gift.

"Thank you, Kyouraku-san, it's beautiful." Renji had also given her a fan this year but his was made of bamboo and the ends were tipped with sharpened blades. One was a gift for a lady and the other a gift for a warrior.

"I'm glad you like it, Onee-san helped me pick it out," he beamed and smiled at his sister, who blushed. It was clear there was true affection there. He often spoke so fondly about the woman she was glad to finally meet her. Maybe he wasn't that bad after all but right now she wanted to get back to Renji.

"It's a very generous gift but if you will excuse me, I need to get back to Renji," she turned to leave and he reached out for her.

"Let me accompany you back, it is getting dark and I wouldn't want you walking alone." She almost started laughing at him. She was a freakin' Soul Reaper and even though she had not brought Sode no Shirayuki with her, she was more than capable of taking care of herself.

"That isn't necessary," she said.

"I insist," he took her hand and tucked it against her arm and she agreed just to be rid of him. As they crested the hill back to where Renji was, she spotted him with sitting alone, with his knees pulled up to his chest, looking at the sky. He looked sad and she wanted nothing more than to give him a hug and cuddle back up with him to watch the fireworks.

So focused on her friend was she, that she missed the unkempt child sneaking up on them. She didn't even realize there was a problem until she heard Tossa shriek, "that urchin stole my purse."

That was also Renji's first clue that they had returned, followed by "Someone call the guard, we'll have them arrested and their hands cut off," Shigeru raged, yet didn't not set out to catch the small child.

Rukia looked back at him pleadingly and he sighed and grabbed a few rice balls, flashstepping away to catch the stupid kid. It wasn't hard really, he only had to use one step to get right behind them, but they took off running as fast as their scrawny legs could carry them as soon as they saw him. He didn't bother calling but starting running after them. He knew nothing he said would help until he had them cornered. The kid ducked through two narrow building, that Renji had to turn sideways to fit through, then into a low hanging lean-to that he had to get on his hands and knees to crawl through. Finally ending in a very small shack that looked more like it belonged in the 50th district rather than the 5th.

He was met by the little brat swinging an oversized sword at him that he caught easily. He tried to stand up, and smacked his head on the ceiling, "God damn it!" he cursed, rubbing his head. He then looked over at the kid he was chasing as it tried to block a much smaller child from view. He could smell a third, unwashed and hiding child there too. They were all similar scented so he guessed they were related. Seven, maybe eight years old for the kid in the front, which he could now tell was a girl. The one in the back couldn't be more than 4 and clearly a boy.

She held out the purse at him and begged, "please don't hurt us, Mr. I'll do anything, just don't hurt my brothers." She looked at him with dark, frightened eyes. He knew those eyes because he used to wear them.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, geeze just relax." He sat down, blocking the door. It didn't matter though, he had their scent and anywhere they ran, he could track them. They looked unconvinced though so he decided to sweeten the deal. "Here," he held out the rice balls, "take them. All I want is the purse." She still looked hesitant even as her brother looked hungrily at the food. He rewrapped the food and tossed it closer to them, "just throw it over, if you don't want to get too close, I understand."

That worked and she tossed him the stupid purse. He could leave, go back and enjoy Rukia's company but he knew he wouldn't. When could he ever resist a stray? "What's your name?" he asked.

"What does it matter to you? You have the purse, you can go." The girl snapped at him.

"I was just trying to be nice, after all, you invited me into your house." He smiled.

"I didn't invite you and you ain't told me your name either, Mr." She had him there. "Alls I know is that you are a soul reaper and that you started chasing me."

"You stole some nob's purse, what did you expect. You're luckily it was me and not a guardsman." He pointed out, and then continued. "But you're right, I'm Renji, Renji Abarai, Lieutenant of the 6th." He bowed the best he could from his seated position.

"You're really a lieutenant," and that was what he had been waiting for, the last kid that was hiding come out, another boy, this one about six. "Is that really a zanpakto, does it have a name?" curiosity far outweighing fear now, the boy came close enough to almost touch him. He smiled but didn't encourage him closer. One it might spook him and two, Zabi didn't like other people touching him.

"Yup, his name is Zabimaru, and I think he' the best zanpakto out there." He watched them stuff the rice down their throats and eye him suspiciously. He didn't blame them. He wouldn't have reacted any differently. But then again no one had ever made him the offer he was about to make them. "So where are your parents?" he asked, they were all clearly related. "And you still haven't told me your names."

"They're dead, what's it to you?" the girl snapped.

"Sorry to hear that," he was not surprised. They hadn't been on the street long though, that was obvious. "they weren't thieves, I'm guessing?"

"Of course not, they were merchants. They got killed by hollows." The boy that was so enamored with him now defensive.

"Figures, if they were thieves they would have taught you not to target such posh nobles." They all looked at him like he grew a second head. "If you're gonna' steal to survive, you gotta be good at it. And rule number one is to pick your marks well. Don't rob someone so high up that they can rain a shit storm down that you can't handle, meaning, no robbing nobles. Two, don't get caught." He sneered. "You're better off taking the girl and the little kid and putting them out to beg because you don't have the fineness or the skill to be a good pickpocket.

"What would you know about it, soul reaper?" The girl again.

He smiled, "because I never did have any parents and grew up about 73 districts that way," he pointed away from the citadel. "Believe me, I know how hard it is to make it on the street. I had to lie, cheat, steal, and kill just to have enough for me and my family to survive. Which is why I'm going to make you an offer but first you have to tell me your names."

The youngest crawled out and looked at him appraisingly for a moment. He felt the first flickerings of spiritual pressure in the child. Zabimaru roused a bit, thinking there might be a fight. "Hariko," he mumbled and dropped his eyes. "It's nice to meet you Redji." Renji smiled and bit his tongue on correcting the kid.

The girl seemed to waffle for a moment then finally looked him in the eye, "I'm Seena and that is Shirako. Now what offer do you have?" She looked at him with distrust but not true fear. He felt his stomach uncoil a bit. This girl had not learned that she always had something she could sell. He guessed maybe that lesson came later in the 5th than the 78th.

He shook his head unconsciously and slowly reached into his pockets and retrieved a golden chit. "this is a pass into the Seireitei, but in order to get it, you have to come back with me and apologize to Lady Tossa," they met him with confused but hopeful looks. "The lady that owns this purse," he clarified.

"But what would we do when we get there?" She looked afraid that this opportunity would be yanked away from her.

He felt his heart melt and realized what a ridiculous softie he was, "come on, let's go talk to her and I'll explain on the way." He stood up, forgetting how low the ceiling was and smacking his head again. "Son of a bitch!" he yelled, and rather than scaring them, it seemed to make the two boys smile. Seena still looked worried though.

"Mr. take my brothers, let them go." She looked at the one chit and he immediately figured what she meant.

"All of you are coming with me," he held his hand out for Hariko to take, "you can't split up a family, it isn't right," he reassured them and started trying to think what he was going to have to do to convince Kuchiki to take the whole family. The Captain had given him permission to bring back a maid or a gardener's assistant, not an entire family but Renji knew he didn't have the heart to leave any of them behind. He would think of something.

As they walked, Shirako seemed to be full of questions, "what is the Seireitei like?"

"It's really pretty and clean, so you have to be really nice and honest in your work."

"What's being a soul reaper like?" the little boy took his other hand as they walked.

"It's hard work but you know you get to help people so it makes it all worthwhile."

"Why do you have girly flowers braided into your hair?"

Renji had momentarily forgotten that Rukia had braided flowers into his hair and he felt his cheeks flush. "Because guys do stupid things for gals they are in love with." He mumbled as they rounded the bend and saw the Kyourakus. They were talking to Matsumoto and Hitsuguya and looked quite angry. He caught the tail end of their conversation.

"And that Abarai thing probably only volunteered to chase them because he put them up to it so he could get our money. Do you know that he is trash from the 78th?" Shigeru ranted.

"I assure you that Lt. Abarai would not do that," Hitsuguya started.

Rangiku was the first to notice him and the children and she smiled at him in that weird half mothering half lecherous way of hers, "collecting strays again, Renji?" The three children seemed to freeze in fear at seeing all the soul reapers around, including Richiki and Hanataro. Seena and Shirako both hid behind him. At least he had their trust. She crouched down and smiled at them, and Hariko came forward to smile too but kept a death grip on Renji's hakima. Say what you wanted about her, but Rangiku was good with kids.

"Mr. Redji, is that the girl that put the flowers in your hair?" Hariko looked up at him and asked. He took a deep breath and refused to meet either Matsumoto's eyes or even worse, Rukia's.

"Ah, no, and Seena, shouldn't you be apologizing to Lady Tossa?" he stuttered, trying to change the subject. He handed her the purse to return and gave her an encouraging smile.

"I'm sorry ma'am, my brother was just hungry is all. I didn't mean no harm." She held the silk purse out to the tall noblewoman.

"Filthy urchins!" Shigeru snapped and raised his bamboo walking cane to strike he girl. She deserved it, Renji knew she did. He had gotten the hell beat out of him with canes, table legs, and fists for stealing when he was kid. But he just couldn't let it happen. These kids didn't want to be thieves, they just didn't have any other choice.

He blocked the strike before it landed with a still sheathed Zabimaru, even as Rangiku flashstepped the girl out of harm's way. He could hear the nue screaming in his head for blood and more than anything he wanted to give in but he didn't. There were too many witnesses. "You even think about hitting that kid and I'll break your goddamn jaw, Kyouraku." He saw the man open his mouth but even he could feel Renji's, the Captain's, and strongest of all Matsumoto's spiritual pressures rising and he backed down. Mats never would put up with anyone mistreating little ones.

"Well they had best return to whatever hole they crawled from." He tried to save face and Renji had to take a step back so he didn't pound his fist into the punks face.

"But Mr. Renji, you said we could go to the Seireitei," Shirako said.

"Hah, what would people like you do in the Court of Pure Souls," he laughed and Rukia put herself between Renji and him. Damn, she knew him too well because that man's face was just way too punchable.

"Oh but of course you are," she smiled and held her hand out to brush dirty hair from Shirako's face. "I need a new maid, and Nii-sama would like a new gardener's assistant, and I am sure I heard one of the cooks mention that they needed help with tasting in the kitchens."

She caught Renji's eyes over the children's heads and he mouthed, "thank you," to her.

"We'll take them up there, sensei. It isn't like I have anything else to do tonight." Rikichi said and gave his mentor a glare.

"Got shot down huh?" Renji smiled.

"Apparently your pick up line isn't as charming as you think?"

"What was it?" Rangiku asked.

"Nice shoes, want to fu," he started then looked at the children and waved his hand."

"Oh, that one's not so bad," she smiled, then punched Renji in the arm, "it worked on him."

"You people all suck!" Renji ranted but couldn't hide his smile and blush.

"Good night, sensei, I'll see you tomorrow," Rikichi waved and he and Hanataro lead the three away, telling them the story of how he met Renji because he tried to pick his pocket.

"That's was a really nice thing you did there, Renj," Matsumoto smiled at him.

"Don't thank me. It isn't my estate they will be working at. Thank Kuchiki and that huge staff he employs." He demurred, embarrassed by the praise. It wasn't like he actually did anything anyway.

"Yeah, but he wouldn't care, if you didn't." she winked and turned to follow her captain.

Renji stopped her. He reached behind him and pulled one of the flowers from his hair, a yellow one he hoped, and tucked it behind her ear. "Happy Doll Festival, chesty." He kissed her cheek. For all that she sometimes drove him batshit crazy, there was something about her that he liked, her heart. And her ass, she had a great ass.

"Right back at 'ya, legs," she ran to join Hitsuguya, leaving him alone again with the nobles.

"You know, you could probably still totally hit that," Rukia said from his elbow as they watched Matsumoto chase her Captain.

"Too much baggage," he answered not elaborating. He never had wanted Rukia to know about his casual affair with Rangiku but that woman had no concept of discretion. He found it slightly insulting that he was a notch in Matsumoto's bedpost.

They were all staring at him, making him feel self conscious. He scratched the back of his neck, and tried to think of something to say. "I hope your brother doesn't mind that I sent three people to him instead of one." He decided.

"I'm sure he won't even notice, much less care." Rukia moved to sit back down, pulling him with her.

"I'm glad. I just wish," he stopped, remembering who else was there. Shigeru sat on the other side of Rukia but she leaned against him, pulling his arm around her in the cool air.

"I know, you wish you could help them all." She looked up at him and smiled. "I know, I do too." And they cuddled together to watch the fireworks, not caring who else was around them. Doll Festival was about their friendship and no one could ever change that.

**TBC**


	4. Sick as a Dog

A/N: I got bored and decided to write a Bleach fic. Set 5+ years after the current Anime story line. As a general rule, I assume they are speaking in Japanese to each other so therefore do not need to add in any extraneous bits. The only time I use it, is when there is no English equivalent, such as honorifics.

Thanks for the reviews they always help the "process."

Enjoy

Disclaimer: I own nothing probably not even the idea.

**Chapter 4: Sick as a Dog**

The universe may have started with a bang but most potentially life altering events tended to start with a whimper or in Renji's case a sniffle. He was sitting at a table in the 3rd's office, helping Kira with his monthly paperwork like he did at the end of every month but couldn't help watching his friend like a hawk. Something was wrong, he could smell it but he couldn't put his finger on what it was. He stood to return a stack of finished budgets to the desk and tried to casually lean down for a better smell. Izuru glared at him.

"Did you just sniff me?"

"Maybe," Renji tried to think of some way out this that still left him with some dignity.

"Why?" Kira ground out, looking annoyed.

"Because you smell funny and I can't figure out why?"

"My smell is comical to you?" he drawled and reminded Renji slightly of Captain Kuchiki. Where did nobles learn to talk to people in a way that always made him feel like just tracked dog shit all over their floor?

"Not funny like that but strange, different," Renji inhaled through his nose and mouth, running his tongue along the roof of his mouth to taste the scent as well. It was a trick he had learned from Snakey. "Like you but pusy and maybe moldy?"

"I smell like pus?" He quirked his eyebrow.

Renji shook his head and had an idea. "Can I lick you?" Kira actually did a spit take of the tea he was drinking and coughed.

"No, no, no! You cannot lick me, just no. Go sit over there and stop sniffing me." He did as he was told. It was even harder to pinpoint the scent now that the room smelled like tea.

"By the way, why are you drinking tea instead of sake?" It was odd for Kira not to knock back an entire of bottle of the stuff during these monthly meetings.

"Am I not allowed to drink tea now because I smell funny!" Kira snapped.

"You're awfully cranky tonight."

"You're being awfully annoying tonight."

"Sorry," Renji apologized and turned back to his paperwork. He couldn't help himself from looking up every few minutes though. It was just driving him nuts that he couldn't tell what that smell was.

"Stop staring at me, Abarai," Izuru commanded after another half hour.

"Sorry," he ducked his head feeling guilty. He finished up some roster assignments, hoping Kira wouldn't really care where he assigned his men, he never had before. But then again, he normally didn't smell like pus and mold and normally didn't drink tea either. He was about to ask if his assignments were ok, when he heard it. Kira sniffled, and then it clicked. "You're sick," Renji announced.

"I'm not sick, Renji, I just sniffled." Izuru ignored him.

"No, you are sick. That's why you smelled off. You're sick."

"I'm not sick."

"You should go to the 4th and then go home. I'll finish this." Renji offered.

"I'm not sick!" Kira insisted but Renji just stared at him. "Besides, there is no way you could smell that I was sick."

"I can too smell it," Renji was oblivious to the fact he sounded like a bratty child. "Remember that lady Soul Reaper right after we were seated in the 5th that had to leave because of a 'family emergency?' Well I knew she got herself knocked up by the 3rd seat, remember?" Kira reluctantly nodded.

"But that doesn't mean you would be able to smell that I am sick, which I'm not. Nothing's nose is that sensitive."

"Wanna bet? I could tell you what you had for breakfast." Renji bragged.

"Fine, a round of sake says you can't tell me what I had for breakfast." Kira threw down.

"But you have to promise to be honest, when I get it right." Kira nodded and Renji moved behind, and ran his nose, feather light, along Izuru's hair, his neck, his sleeves, his face till the other man had Goosebumps and a partial stiffy. "You had eggs, okayu with umeboshi, and that Earl Grey tea Sasakibe keeps trying to give everyone."

Kira dropped his head in defeat and Renji smirked. "How the hell could you tell that? I ate breakfast 14 hours ago."

"I smelled it, when you farted." Renji stated, completely straight faced. Kira's eyes widened comically and he blushed. "I'm just kidding," Abarai smiled at his friend. "I could smell it on your hair and your clothes but mostly through your skin."

"That's insane. I knew your sense of smell was really sensitive but that is just amazing." Renji beamed from the praise.

"Yeah, don't you remember a few years ago, when we had to find that Arrancar in Karakura Town and ended up at the landfill? I took one step in there and threw up all over the place, including on Rukia, which she was surprisingly not angry about. Anyway, it was because it smelled so bad I couldn't even see straight."

"Wow," Izuru commented.

"Yeah and all this time you guys thought I was just being a wuss. Ichigo still makes fun of me for that." He pouted.

"Regardless, I'm not sick. Now can we just finish these papers?"

"Ok, but you are sick."

"Shut up and work, Renji."

They worked for another 4 hours, till nearly one in the morning. All the time, Kira kept sniffling, started coughing and looking sort of pale. However, he still refused to admit he was sick. Renji walked him home, then happily invited himself in and pulled out the extra futon Kira kept. Renji knew where it was along with the extra linens because at least twice a month he had to walk Izuru's drunk ass home and spend the night making sure he didn't choke to death on his own vomit. He then tucked his friend into bed with some water and a promise to be there if he needed anything then went to sleep.

The next morning, Kira looked and felt even worse. He was hacking and coughing through aching lungs. Renji could feel the fever burning on his skin, and he was white as a hollow mask. He didn't even have to drag his sick friend to the 4th after a few minutes of coughing. So here Renji sat in an exam room at the 4th completely ignoring Kira's attempt to shoo him away. It wasn't like he was going to leave one of his best friends if they were sick. What type of a horrid person did Izuru think he was?

Finally, Lt. Kotetsu came in and smiled her sweet smile and bowed respectfully to them. "Good morning, Kira-kun, Lt. Abarai." Her voice was so high pitched, sometimes it made Renji's head hurt to listen to her. "We are a bit understaffed today so it might be a few more minutes," she then ducked out.

"Seriously, she had time to come tell us it was going to be a longer wait but not to do anything?" Renji glowered, "that's why I don't like the 4th, man, they are so inefficient. Captain Kuchiki would never put up with that." Kira just looked at him and shivered. Renji didn't say anything else but scooted a little closer to share his body heat. "By the way, you ever notice that she has a really nice rack?"

About half an hour later, the door opened again. Kira was dozing, leaning against Renji's shoulder and Renji was in the middle of an argument with Zabimaru about the mastery of higher level kido, when Yamada poked his shaggy, black head in. "Good morning sirs," he bowed no less than three times.

"Mornin' Hanataro," Renji waved at him with a smile.

"Sorry for the wait, we are really short staffed," he apologized and bowed a fourth time. Renji was getting really tired of waiting and even more tired of being apologized to for having to wait. He just thanked his lucky stars that he was off duty today. "If you don't find it too disrespectful, I can look at you. If not, it will be about another hour's before the lieutenant or the captain can see you." And then there was the 5th bow in less than 2 minutes.

"No, that's fine with me Yamada-san," Kira smiled and the young healer seemed to relax. Renji was vaguely annoyed that he had known and worked with Hanataro much more often and had known him longer yet the little twerp seemed to get more nervous the more Renji smiled. And come to think of it, why was Kira a kun and he was a lieutenant? He huffed, interrupting the exam for a moment.

"Well, it looks like you have the flu, Lieutenant Kira," Yamada said as he stepped back from the exam table. Renji felt his insides grow cold with the news.

"The flu?" he croaked, looking at his friend like it was the last time he might ever see him.

"Yes, Lt. Abarai. There seems to be a fairly virulent strain going around the Seireitei. Lt. Kira is the 24th confirmed case in the last 2 days. It is shaping up to be quite an epidemic. That is why we are running so far behind."

"A flu epidemic," Renji gasped but they ignored him as Yamada gave Kira instruction on what to do. He was surprised that Kira was sent home with a small packet of medicine and instructed to rest and drink plenty of fluids. There should be more healers could do. He followed his friend home, even offering to carry him if he didn't feel up to walking. That had earned him a smack to the back of the head.

Once back at Kira's barracks, Renji puttered about fussing with blankets and setting out several drinks for his friend all the while compiling a mental list of supplies he would need to pick up. He was interrupted somewhere between honey and red miso by Kira, "Renji, you really don't have to go to so much trouble. It's just a case of the flu." He waved his hand dismissively.

"People can die from the flu," Renji mumbled, looking down.

The blond rolled his eyes, "the elderly, the infirmed, and small children maybe. Healthy adults do not die from trifling little flus."

"They could," he looked down and almost whispered.

Kira laughed, turning into a nasty cough, "unlikely. You're overreacting again, Abarai," he sipped some water and relaxed again. "But it if makes you feel better then fuss away. I'm going back to sleep." He rolled over and Renji went to the commissary to pick up supplies.

He spent the next two days at Kira's watching over his friend. He brought him food, drinks, and entertainment. When he was cold he tucked him in, too hot, he opened the windows. He made sure he took his medicine, slept enough, and was in high spirits. He only left long enough to pick up their paperwork and finish both sets, while Kira slept. He trained at dawn and dusk, while his patient was napping but always left the door open so he could see if he was needed. The whole time though, there was a painful knot in his stomach that didn't go away until Izuru's fever broke and his coughs dissipated. Then and only then did he return to his own rooms for a much needed rest.

The problem was, Momo came down with it next. Renji felt his heart lurch at the thought of his little peach that ill but Hitsuguya and Kira helped care for her so he felt a bit better about her. Rangiku and Hisagi were after her. Kira got Hisagi and Renji was relegated to toadying for Matsumoto. Mostly, he just did her paperwork. All the while, Kuchiki was surprisingly accepting of the whole thing.

Worst of all though, was when Captain Ukitake came down with it. He was very ill for many days and there was talk he might not survive. The entire Court of Pure Souls was tense and unhappy during that time. Kyouraku was subdued and never left his friend's side, the head Captain even visited. Captain Kuchiki seemed worried, which was shocking in and of itself. He knew Rukia must be completely distraught but she was so often in the company of Shigeru and Ginrei, that he never had a chance to talk to her alone. They all were permitted in to see the older captain, when few others were. When Renji did see her, he gave her encouraging smiles and hoped it was enough of a help, because whenever he approached her, either Ginrei-dono or Shigeru chased him off.

After two long, worried weeks, the Captain of the 13th began to recover and it seemed the Seireitei breathed a collective sigh of relief that the most beloved of all he captains had cheated death at least one more time. Renji hoped and prayed that Ukitake would be the end of the flu drama because he didn't know how much more he could take.

%%%%%%

Byakuya ignored the cheers and jeers of his men and assorted guests as he continued to pound on Renji for being too slow. It was a guilty pleasure of his after all the years Yoruichi did it to him. Not to mention it was part of his duty as a Captain to help train his lieutenant and if nothing else, Renji did enjoy training, probably not 2 hours straight of flashstep but still.

He stuck his foot out to trip Renji but he side stepped it right into a sheathed Senbonzakura against his throat. Had it been true battle rather than training, Renji would have lost his head, literally. His Lieutenant dropped his head and sighed, admitting defeat graciously, not that he had a choice. Though he had gotten better and was probably the best non captain at flashstep, maybe better than a few of the captains, he was still miles and miles away from Byakuya. He looked down at his panting lieutenant and wondered if the man was going to vomit on him again. For some reason, still heavily debated by the 4th and the 12th, Renji, and several others, tended to get motion sickness when they flashstepped too much, especially in circles. Something about being able to see movement without feeling it, according to Unohona. But Byakuya had kept him on a pretty straight line this time because he knew Renji was exhausted from taking care of Kira and handling his work load until he was back on his feet and then Hinamori's and Matsumoto's. In fact he was almost proud that his student, not that he would ever call him that, did as well as he did, not that he would ever say it. Instead he said, "your technique still needs work and you need to be more aware of your opponent. I should not have been able to stop you with such a simplistic move."

"You're right, sir," Renji straightened up and admitted. "I'll do better next time." He watched his second staggered over to lean against the fence post and shake his head slightly. He refused the water that Rikichi offered him, a sure sign that Byakuya worked him to the point of nausea. He knew he should feel guilty or pleased but frankly he didn't feel anything.

He walked towards the man to remind him he still had to finish the roster assignments, when Shigeru addressed him, "oy, Byakuya," he didn't even turn his head. What Rukia saw in the little toad was completely beyond him. At this point, he would even consider Renji or that obnoxious Kurosaki kid a step up. "Rukia told me to meet her here, have you seen her? By the way, good work out there." Shigeru raised his hand as if to pat him on the shoulder but the glare Kuchiki shot at him made him immediately abort the move. "Anyway, you really showed that guy who's boss." He winked and Byakuya felt like introducing him to Senbonzakura. On one hand his bloodthirsty zanpakto was excited at the prospect of combat on the other he was insulted that he would be used against such a peon. He opted to walk away but the gnat followed him.

"Abarai," he called and Renji immediately straightened and opened his eyes. Byakuya supposed there was a possible twinge of something when he saw the dark circles under his lieutenant's eyes. Or maybe it was just left over annoyance from Shigeru. "Please don't forget to take care of the duty rosters for next month. It is the 6th 's turn to run the real world training exercises."

"Yes, sir," he bowed and turned to leave until another Soul Reaper appeared in front of them.

"Captain Kuchiki, Lieutenant Abarai," some ugly man that looked vaguely familiar called. Renji instinctively put himself between Kuchiki and the new comer, even though his ability to defend his master was laughable in his current overworked state. He simply stepped in front of his overzealous second and nodded. "I have an urgent message from Captain Ukitake of the 13th," he nearly shouted, and his identity was quickly recalled. Sentaro, one of Ukitake's annoying 3rd seats. He nodded again for the man to continue. "Rukia Kuchiki was sent home sick with the flu. The Captain thought you should know."

"I see," he drawled and waved his hand dismissively at the drone. He would never understand why Ukitake put up with so many useless squad members.

"The flu, what a bother," Shigeru rolled his eyes. "Guess I won't be seeing her for a few days." He turned to leave and Byakuya looked behind him to his second. All the color had drained from Renji's face, and his hands were shaking slightly. He was worried for a moment that the man might pass out or something. Frankly he had looked better just before he had run him through during their fight.

"Ren," was as far as he got before the other man disappeared in the fasted flashstep he had seen him perform to date. He quickly followed all the way back to his own home, specifically Rukia's room. Some part of him realized the inappropriateness of having his lieutenant in his sister's sleeping chamber but he couldn't be moved to care about it, not when he saw the man on his knees beside Rukia, stroking her hair and running his nose along her chest, neck, and jaw line. Rukia held his other hand and looked at up at him with an undecipherable look, relief maybe.

"Rukia, you're sick. You're burning up." He whispered to her and buried his face in her hair.

"It's ok, Renji, I'll be ok." She reached up and pet his hair. Byakuya sometimes wondered why they touched each other's hair so much. What exactly was the significance of that behavior to them? Rukia never touched his hair but to be fair no one ever really touched him anywhere.

"It's not ok, you have the flu," he sounded like he was almost in tears.

"Byakuya, do something about your lieutenant before he climbs in bed with her and starts humping her leg like a dog!" Ginrei said from the door way. "Throw him out on his ear." Both Renji and Rukia looked horrified at the prospect of being separated.

"But, sir, I need to stay and take care of her, please." Renji's tired and clearly panicked eyes begged him.

"There is a whole staff of people here solely to cater to her every whim not to mention her family, why would she need you?" His grandfather, ever practical pointed out. And the redhead sort of looked like he had gotten harpooned through the chest.

"Grandfather," Rukia started, as she pulled Renji closer to her but was cut off.

"Byakuya, you let her run too wild and with such people. It's a wonder Shigeru even tolerates her being around that subordinate of yours. You need to rein her in before she loses him as a potential match."

"Nii-sama, please," she begged with the same fearful eyes as Renji.

"Please, sir, please let me stay." Renji looked nothing short of frantic.

"He is not needed him, send him away before I do," Ginrei said and took a step towards them. Byakuya recognized the look in Renji's eyes and moved to restrain his grandfather before he ended up with the business end of a zanpakto at his throat but Rukia beat him to the punch.

"Renji," she called quickly, distracting him from what he clearly perceived as a threat. "Would you please do me a favor and get me one of the lemon ices I like? It would feel so nice on my throat." She asked and followed up with, "please," when he looked indecisive. He nodded and flashstepped away. Byakuya vaguely wondered how much longer he could go without puking.

"Nii-sama," she then started before Ginrei could continue his rant, "with all due respect to Ginrei-dono, please let Renji stay with me, even if just for a little while."

"Why do you need him here with you? You should be resting, my dear, not entertaining ruffians that gained undue distinction because of a traitor's machinations."

"Please, let him stay, he's afraid. I'm all he has and he's scared I'm going to die. You know him, you know he does stupid things when he gets scared. If you send him away, he'll just sneak back in." She tried logic. "Besides, I want him to stay." Now she tried guilt, seeing him unresponsive to logic.

"And why should we care if he is overreacting to you having a simple flu?" Ginrei raised his eyebrow but stopped himself before saying anything more. Hisana's illness had started out when she caught a 'simple flu' during one of her trips into the Rukon.

"You have to understand," she paused as if weighing something, then continued. "Remember I told you that Renji and I had a family in the Rukon," he nodded. "They all died, except Renji and me. It was about a year before we became soul reapers. There was a horrible flu going around the Rukon and everyone caught it, even Renji but he didn't get as sick as everyone else. I made it but the others didn't. We lost our family in one night. He tried to help them, we both did. He stole medicine and got beat to hell doing it but it only helped me. Ever since then he freaks out when anyone he cares about gets sick. I mean you saw how he acted with Kira and Momo. He just gets so scared," she paused again and looked away from him. "We both do." He could tell there was more to the story but he remained unmoved.

"Byakuya, that is a simply tragic story of the lives of poor people but we are not poor and don't need to be associated with someone like Abarai. Send him away to go do his job, which frankly he doesn't seem very good at." He had to agree it was a sad story but nothing he hadn't heard before and nothing that should convince him that he should allow his lieutenant to bunk in his house until she was better. His home was the one place he could relax without the pressures of society or the 13 Court Guard Squads bearing down on him, other than Ginrei of course.

Then it happened, she looked up at him with those huge violet eyes of hers and whispered, "please, Nii-sama," and coughed. He suddenly felt like had had been stabbed in the chest by Gin again at seeing Hisana's face staring up at him, coughing, weak and pale.

"Yes," he said before he even realized it. "He can stay as long as you want him to." He turned to leave before he started freaking out like Renji did. He walked towards the front courtyard, intending to find a servant to fetch his and his lieutenant's paperwork from the office. There was no reason they couldn't work while Rukia rested, when he nearly tripped over a slowly melting cup of lemon flavoured ice. He picked it up and inhaled. This had been one of Hisana's favorite things. It was in fact the last thing she had eaten before she died. He immediately suppressed any thoughts of her death with his iron will. He would not think on such things. Instead, he scanned his courtyard and found his second hunched behind a tree, emptying his guts. Apparently 2 hours and 10 minutes was his limit for flashsteps without getting sick. That was 25 minutes better than it used to be. Next time they trained, he would make his lieutenant go 2 hours and 12 minutes.

He watched the man straighten up and attempt to clean himself up before turning back to the house. He looked defeated when he saw Byakuya blocking his means of entrance. He held out the frozen treat to the taller man. "Take this to her," he turned to walk away but stopped, "you may remain here as long as she wishes it." He then headed in the opposite direction of Rukia's rooms. Every cough was like a knife to his heart and maybe he understood Renji's panic far more than either of them wanted to admit.

%%%%

Rukia looked up and saw Renji enter, proffering her the frozen lemonade. She ate it slowly, not really hungry but not wanting him to know she sent him on a fool's errand to prevent him from attacking her grandfather. He sat at the foot of her bed, staring at her like she was going to disappear any second. It was frankly a bit creepy even if she did understand why.

She set her drink aside and smiled at him. She had been so hung up on Ukitake being sick that she had hardly had a chance to talk to him. She had wanted to stop and give him a hug after she found out Kira was sick and Momo must have been hard for him to stand but she had almost constantly been around Shigeru and Ginrei and hadn't felt like dealing with the fight that would ensue if she talked to him. Though, as they sat beside Ukitake's bed, she and Shigeru had grown closer. It was difficult to think him cold hearted or mean, when she saw the love he held for her captain. Even though they couldn't talk, Renji had smiled at her, every time she saw him. It was his supportive smile that always made her feel like she could do anything and if she happened to fail it wouldn't matter because he would be there to help her up. She couldn't explain how much it had helped.

He looked pale and shaky and it worried her that he was still so afraid even though she was awake and coherent. "Renji, is something wrong?" She beckoned for him to come nearer so she could slip his bandana off and feel his forehead, wondering if he had the flu too. He felt cool to the touch though and just smiled at her and blushed.

"The captain was giving me flashstep lessons this afternoon, when we found out you were sick. Then I ran over here then to go get you some frozen lemonade," he shrugged and she understood. He had made himself sick flashstepping too much.

She tugged him down till he was lying beside her but not on the futon and ran her hands over his pale face. "Lie down then, stupid. You know it will make you feel better." She closed her eyes and started to drift, knowing that he was alright, if infernally dumb. She dozed, her fever and coughs making it impossible to fall into a deep sleep but every time she so much as cleared her throat, Renji was there with water or juice for her. And every time, he made her feel a little bit better. In her entire life, no one ever took as good of care of her as Renji did.

It didn't stop the tugging fear in her though and she could see that Renji was still scared too. She wondered what might make him feel better and kept promising she would send him away so he didn't have to see her like this but then she would feel a cough bubbling up in her chest and remember all those years ago what if felt like to fight for every ounce of oxygen and she would reach for his hand the same time he would offer it.

This kept on until supper arrived. Rukia was insanely angry and nearly jumped from her bed when she saw that the servants had brought only broth and one rice ball, more than enough for her considering her complete lack of appetite, but nothing for Renji. He shoved her back down when she tried to rise and then refused to let her scold the servants.

"Don't worry about it, little girl, I'm fine. Just eat." He pleaded with her.

"How can you be fine? You were training with Nii-sama for hours and haven't eaten since what, breakfast? You must be starving." She attempted to separate her rice ball to give him some.

"No," he stilled her hands. "you eat. Besides, I had flashstep training so I'm still kind of queasy."

She glared at him, "liar." He always recovered within a few minutes after stopping from his flashstep induced motion sickness. Now when they were in the human world and he had gotten carsick and trainsick, that had been a totally different story. And the less said about Renji on a boat, the better. "We aren't in Hanging Dog anymore. You don't have to go hungry so I or anyone else have something to eat," she looked down losing even more of her appetite thinking about all the sacrifices they had made for each other back then. All so they could come to the Seireitei and never have to go hungry or be scared again. And what was happening now? He was hungry and they were both scared. "There is probably more food in the kitchens right now than in all of the 78th so let me have the servants bring you some supper."

"No, that isn't fair to your brother. He shouldn't have to pay to feed me just because I didn't remember to bring anything with me. I'll be fine for awhile, so please stop worrying and eat. You need to keep your strength up," he nearly begged.

"Stuborn, fucking, ass!" She snapped at him, shoving a spoonful of soup into her mouth and swallowed angrily, burning her throat, in turn making her cough. Before she knew it, he was rubbing her back and holding a glass of ice water in front of her. As her coughs subsided, she looked into his worried eyes and her anger immediately melted. Only her Renji would be moronic enough and sweet enough to worry about steeling food from the Kuchikis if he accepted some supper.

After supper she took her medicine and settled down to try and sleep. She was cold though, and her joints and muscles ached. Renji got her another blanket and offered to rub her shoulders for her but she knew there was only one thing that would help. She slid over to one side and held up the edge of the blanket.

"Are you insane? I can't sleep in your bed." He looked around, like he thought Senbonzakura was about to come flying through the walls to shred him into Renji bits.

"We share a bed all the time," she countered, just wanting to feel his body heat against her. He was like a giant, soothing, hot water bottle.

"We share my bed, and please don't say that so loudly, people might get the wrong impression. And that is behind closed doors in the privacy of my rooms. There are servants and other people all over the place here. You can't risk giving anyone the wrong idea like that." She worried for a moment he was going to go home or sleep in another room or something and she reached for his hand not wanting him to go. "I'll just sleep over there against the wall, that way I can hear you but no one will think I'm taking advantage of you."

"You aren't taking advantage of me. I'm taking advantage of you." she sniped at him, "I'm freezing, everything hurts, and I feel like shit. You are big, warm, and cuddly so get over here. Right now I don't give a flying fuck what anyone else thinks." She used her grip on his hand to pull him forward. Her head was starting to pound hard enough to make her nauseous and she just wanted to go to sleep. She leaned her forehead against him and he closed his eyes and crawled under the covers with her.

"You're burning up sweetheart," he murmured, kissing her head and finally wrapped his arms around her.

Rukia turned around to face him, looking up into his eyes. He was still tense and worried. She reached out touched the light scar on his lip that ran in a diagonal line from his nose down to his top lip. He smiled at her and touched his hand to cheek, feeling her temperature. She thought back to what she had told Nii-sama, and shivered at the memory.

Many years ago:

_She looked at white moonlight streaming from the sky and worried her lip. He had been gone for hours and even though Renji was tough, tougher than most adults, he was still more boy than man and it wasn't safe for a child to be out alone after dark, not in Hanging Dog. She heard one of her friends cough and beg for water but she couldn't help him. Her body felt too weak and wrung out from her own flu. Three days since she could eat and she could barely drink. _

_Renji had been sick too but insisted on trying to steal medicine for them. The fool, he was too ill to be able to out run an angry merchant. She shivered and hugged her self, alternately cursing his name and praying for his return. She closed her eyes and tried to feel him. Only they could feel each other at a distance. But she couldn't, her head was too muzzy and she was so weak. She fisted her hand and fought off tears, where was he? She would give up anything, everything she had, if only he would come home. _

_Just then she heard a thump against their door. She jumped up, barely managing to stay up through her dizziness. She knew she could neither fight for flee in her condition so opted to hide under wooden debris. She could hear and feel rats moving around her and bit her hand to stop from screaming. She again asked any deity listening that Renji would return to help protect them. She watched the door swing open just about the same time she felt a familiar tickle in her brain, like the feel of soft, red hair sliding over her cheek. It was Renji._

_She watched him fumble the makeshift lock closed then stand with his back against the door and slide down to his hands and knees. She wiggled out of her hiding place and lit one of their precious candles. "Renji," she choked as she looked at him. The last three fingers on his left hand were clearly broken, his pinkie so badly the bone stuck out white against the dark red blood. His hair was partially torn from its bindings and caked with dirt and blood. She pushed it out of his face and bit her lip when she saw his eye was nearly swollen shut and what little of it was visible was nearly the same color as his hair. But worst was his lip. He looked like he had taken a punch in the mouth hard enough to split his lip from half way between the bow and the corner all the way up to his nose. It bled freely down his chin, onto his shirt. She looked frantically around, trying to think of something to do that would help him but all she could think of was to try and clean the blood from his face. It didn't help though, there was just too much. _

_He looked up at her and smiled, making more blood bubble up from his lip. "I got it," he gasped, holding up a leather pouch to her. She took it and watched as he started to cough. After the first two, he doubled over, holding his side and whimpering. She saw him choke up blood and she knew it wasn't from his lip. Not knowing what else to do, she wrapped her arm around him and almost jerked away when she felt how caved in the ribs on his left side where. When he finally stopped, she could hear him wheezing but unlike the gurgling sound of the flu, it sounded more like a whistle, every time he panted. He spit more blood onto the floor and she rose to get him some of their water. They didn't have much left but he deserved it. The walk made her dizzy, worse so because of fear at seeing him so hurt. _

"_Here," she handed him the dipper, her hand shaking from exhaustion._

"_Save it," he rasped and pushed himself up onto his knees. He was trembling from pain and she felt tears spring to her eyes. She reached out and ghosted her tiny fingers against his bruised eye. "I'm ok," he tried to reassure but she felt the tears come even faster. "It's alright, Ruks. I was just too slow and copped a beating but I'm fine. You should see the other guy." He tried to smile but it looked out of place on his battered face._

"_You aren't fine, idiot. Your face is smashed up, your fingers and your ribs are broken," she wanted to continue but started coughing so hard she saw stars. _

"_It doesn't matter. I'll live and I got the medicine for you." He pressed the dipper of cool water to her lips and she drank greedily. The stale taste of the water was covered up by acrid herbs he must have mixed into it. "Now go to bed. I need you to get better. I'm a lousy nursemaid."_

_She staggered back to her pile of blankets and watched him clumsily divide the medicine up into three more doses. "What about you?" she was starting to feel light headed and disconnected._

"_There isn't enough and I'm not as sick as you guys." He shuffled over to one of their friends, clearly unable to straighten up. She could still hear him wheezing from the other side of the room and wanted to call his bluff but she couldn't because she knew it was true. There was a horrible, evil side of her that wanted to tell him that she didn't care, he needed to take it and to hell with the others because he was the most important one to her but she held her tongue on the matter._

"_Come sit by me, when you're done," she whispered, wanting him close, and fell asleep to the sound of him trying to wake the others to take their medicine. She woke the next morning, feeling weak and thirsty but so much better than the night before. She looked over and saw Renji sitting in the corner, a pile of dead rats beside him. He still hadn't splinted his fingers or cleaned his face. She opened her mouth to scold him that he would scar and his fingers wouldn't heal straight if he didn't do something. She met his one open eye and felt her heart stop and she followed his gaze to the bodies of their three friends. She rushed over and touched each of them, noting the rat bites on one and how cold and stiff another was. The final one looked as if he was sleeping but he was too lax. She wondered if it was her fault, if someone had heard her prayer that she would give up anything if only Renji would come back. She looked up to ask Renji if he thought it was possible but the words stuck in the throat._

_For the rest of her life, she would never know what type of hell he had gone through that night watching their family die in front of him. It was something he would never talk about, just one of the many things he never talked about. But later, after those they lost were buried on the hill and they were lying together like lost pups, he would whisper to her, "Rukia, don't leave me, please don't ever leave me." The one and only time he begged. The one and only time the Rukon broke him. _

_She would wet his hair with her tears and place his hand over her heart and answer, "never, Renji, I won't ever leave you."_

Present

She often thought about that night, especially during their separation. She remembered his fear at losing her and her confidence that they would be together forever. Maybe they would be, after a 40 year break.

She closed her eyes to sleep and he whispered to her, "Rukia, can you do me a favor?"

"What do you need?" she asked him, hoping it wasn't anything too big.

"Please don't die on me tonight."

"I promise I'll move over there if I'm going to die," she quipped, hoping her humor would relax him. It had the opposite effect.

"Rukia," he almost gasped. "Don't joke about that. I don't know what I would do If anything happened to you. I would miss. I mean I really," he stuttered, "I'ld be really lonely," he finished in a lame attempt to try not to sound too emotional.

He was terrified for her, she knew he was. He couldn't help it. She took his left hand and kissed his crooked pinkie finger. "Renji," she put his hand over her chest, "can you feel my heart beating?" She felt him nod his head, 'yes.' "Keep your hand there and as long as you can feel my heart, you'll know I'm ok." He nodded again and just like she knew how afraid he was, she knew he would stay awake all night watching over her. And maybe that was ok, this once, because maybe she was scared too and being in his arms while he stood guard over her maybe made her feel a little less scared.

Renji spent the next four days with her almost nonstop. He only left to bath, eat, and train. The former and the later done while she was asleep, the middle done by bringing his own food. He made sure she ate, even though she wasn't hungry, slept even though she was cranky and achy, and kept her spirits up by reading her romantic human magnas. He acted them out with stuffed animals doing silly voices and more than once she laughed till she almost choked to death. It didn't matter though, this was the side of Renji that few others ever got to see. The side that didn't worry about pride, appearances, or anything else but laughed, joked, and had fun. Only his closest friends ever got to see him act childlike and silly and every time Rukia saw it, she was reminded of warm heart under his hard exterior and in turn it warmed her heart.

%%%%

Two days after Renji returned to his own quarters, Byakuya watched his lieutenant closely throughout the morning. When the man had first arrived, 2 minutes late he might add, he thought perhaps he had just been flushed from running so he wouldn't be any more late. He began to become suspicious when Renji chose to drink copious amounts of hot tea rather than his customary gallons of water. Though he supposed there was nothing overtly odd about that except that it was the height of summer and rather warm. For the next two hours he watched his second repeatedly rub his temples, pinch is nose, and rub the back of his neck so many times he lost count. He wondered if the man might have the flu.

After two hours the red flush on his cheeks still had not dissipated and he had actually caught him with his head pillowed on his desk, an incredibly inappropriate position for a member of the Sixth. "Abarai, are you well?" he asked before he decided to show his displeasure. It was unusual for his lieutenant to be so lax while at work. This just added to his suspicion.

"Yes, sorry sir," he immediately lifted his head up and blushed even darker. "I'm fine. I'm just a little tired. Guess I didn't sleep too well last night." He gave a weak smile. Byakuya thought that was an odd excuse as his second was the Soul Society's version of that strange human Engergizer Bunny. He never seemed to tire no matter how much you pushed him or how little he rested. He let it drop though, as long as he stayed upright and finished his paperwork then he didn't really care how he was doing or at least that was what he kept telling himself.

That changed however when lunch time rolled around and something happened that Byakuya had never seen before. Renji turned down food. Now Byakuya was officially worried and completely sure that Renji was sick. He rose immediately, "Renji are you sure you are not sick?"

"I'm fine, sir," he almost snapped but managed to throw the 'sir' on at the end to make it sound less pissy.

"I have business with one of the captains, I shall return shortly." Renji nodded at him and returned to rubbing his temple.

He flashstepped to the 13th, enjoying the freedom of being able to run as fast as he wanted for no reason other than he wanted to. He quickly arrived at the 13th and was met by Ukitake's annoying 3rd seats. Why the man just didn't hire a new lieutenant, he didn't know. The only moves he had made to replace the late and less than great in Byakuya's opinion, Shiba had been asking if Renji might be willing to change units. It still sort of made him angry that of all the lieutenants Ukitake wanted to steal his. Damn it, he had spent 5 years breaking the rebellious redhead in and was not about to give him up to anything short of a captaincy or at least acting captaincy.

The two 3rd seats met him at the door and quickly dropped to their knees. "The captain is resting, may I help you," they said in unison. He simply walked past them rather than listen to the argument he knew was about to start.

He knocked while walking in and saw the captain of the 13th at his desk, looking paler and thinner than usual but very much awake and working. "Ah, Byakuya-kun, how can I help you?" the older man smiled and waved him in.

He bowed and shook off his annoyance at being reminded how much younger he was. "I need to borrow one of your officers for a few days."

"Which one might that be and why?" Juushiro offered his fellow captain a peppermint stick, which he declined. He hadn't had lunch yet and he didn't like sweets in general.

"My sister and I need her to babysit my stubborn lieutenant for a few days. At least till he gets over the flu he refuses to admit he has." Byakuya explained.

Ukitake leaned back and smiled, continuing his conversation after sending Sentaro to fetch Rukia. "Ah yes, I understand. Those two do have a very odd relationship don't they?"

"The nature of their relationship is none of my business. I have simply seen her manage to convince him to do things that generally require direct orders or powerful kido binding spells from anyone else." He answered truthfully. Rukia could talk the bullheaded moron into things that no one else ever could. But he supposed it went both ways. Renji could calm her down when she pushed everyone else away.

"You wanted to see me, sir" Rukia ducked her head in and smiled and bowed to her brother.

"Yes, my dear, I was wondering if you might like to join me for lunch?" Byakuya smoothly ask her. He wasn't going to tip his hand. He still wasn't completely sure that Renji was ill and wanted to see what conclusion she came to on her own.

"Oh course, Nii-sama," she turned to her own captain, "of course if that is alright with you, sir?"

"No worries, Rukia, feel free to spend as much time with your brother as you want." He winked and watched them leave.

As they walked out of the 13th, she asked, "so where do you want to go, Nii-sama?"

"I have some lunch set up back at my office, we can eat there. If you like, you can ask Abarai to join us."

"You left Renji alone with food and no one guarding it?" she smiled brightly at him, "you'll be lucky if there is even a single rice grain left when we get back."

"We'll see," he told her as they finally arrived at the 6th administrative offices. Little had changed since he had left. Renji was still at his desk, the lunch tray untouched. The only difference was that now the man's excessive amount of hair was down and he was rubbing his neck instead of his temple.

"Renji," Rukia ran over to him, much as he suspected she would, confirming his earlier worries. "What's wrong, sweetheart?" he shook his head but she ignored him and shoved a massive glob of hair out of his face to touch his forehead. "You have a fever, dummy, you're sick." She turned back to her brother, "Nii-sama, he probably caught the flu from me. He needs to go home and go to bed."

He shook his head, no, immediately, knocking more locks into his face. "No sir, I'll live. I can still work. I don't need to go home." Well, at least he didn't deny he was sick anymore.

"Renji," she lovingly tucked an errant piece of blood red hair behind his ear then trailed her fingers down his cheek to rest against his jaw. "Honey, you need to go home and rest, if you're sick." She then started to stroke his hair and he again wondered what that meant between them. Before he knew it, Renji's head was resting on his desk beside Rukia who continued to pet his hair. "Besides, you can let me return the favor and take care of you."

"I don't need you to take care of me," he complained but lost a good deal of credibility when he started coughing and lost most of his voice. Byakuya was surprised at the knot he felt in his stomach when he heard it. It was nothing compared to the sharp pain in his chest that Rukia's illness had caused but it was definitely uncomfortable. Maybe he did care about the man, at least slightly.

"Clearly," she deadpanned at him rose. "Come on, let's get you back to your quarters," she tugged on his sleeve to get him standing.

"Ruks, I can't have you taking care of me, it isn't right," he rasped at her then looked over at Byakuya for agreement. The captain remained silent, as this had been his plan all along.

"You keep talking but the only thing I will listen to is, 'yes, Rukia, I'll gladly follow you straight home, get in bed, and take a nap. Thank you for suggesting it.'" He glared at her but started coughing again. She paused for a moment by the door and looked at him, "Nii-sama, is it ok if we have lunch another time? I really need to get Renji to bed."

"Of course," just as he had planned but he needed to make sure the clod was cared for until he was back on his feet, not just put to bed. "In fact, I would truly appreciate it, if you would keep an eye on him until he is well again. After all, the flu can be dangerous."

"You're right, Nii-sama, I'll stay with him until he is better. I just need to make sure Captain Ukitake understands." She seemed to unconsciously rub Renji's arm where he leaned against the door hacking. She was careful to stay on the top part and away from his bandaged forearms.

"Don't worry, I'll send him a note. I'm sure he won't mind at all." He sounded unconcerned yet inside he was rather pleased with himself. He always got a slight thrill out of manipulating people to do exactly what he wanted without them ever realizing it.

%%%%

Renji woke two hours later to Rukia forcing him to drink very sour and pulpy orange juice. Normally he might have considered complaining but his throat hurt so much he would have drunken ethyl alcohol just for the cooling sensation. He was alternately freezing cold to the point of shivering then burning hot. His head, neck, back and legs ached like they all had hairline fractures in them. His eyes felt dry, crusty, and like his brain was angry with them and trying to force them out of his skull. He had no appetite even though he wasn't technically queasy. All in all, he felt awful.

He croaked a thank you at her and squinted at the clock. It was only 2:30, he still had four more hours before he had to get up and check the evening guard rotation. He hoped he would feel human by then. The only bright spot was that Rukia had stayed with him. She somehow seemed to be able to tell when his head started pounding to the point that he felt like he might puke and she stroked his hair and most of the pain away or his throat hurt so much he would rather drool on himself than swallow and offered him cool water. If moving wasn't such an incredibly unpleasant thought, he would have kissed her. Instead, he smiled and snuggled even closer to her.

He woke fully again at 6:15 to the sound of the guard bells and his head resting comfortably in Rukia's lap. He seriously had no recollection of putting it there but he wasn't about to complain. In fact, he would give his left arm to just stay there, cocooned in his blankets, the love of his life looking after him, and the dreadful headache that had been plaguing him all day finally at bay but he was a lieutenant and he had a job to do. So with a herculean effort, he pushed himself upright, gritting his teeth against the way his head started pounding.

"Is something wrong?" Rukia rose to kneel behind him and gather up his loose hair. She probably thought he was about to hurl and she wasn't too far from the truth. It always kind of irked him that of the two of them Rukia was the one with the cast iron stomach. She never ever puked for any reason. Renji on the other hand got sick if he drank too much, was around things that smelled too strong, rode in a car or flashstepped for too long, and the less said about him on a boat, the better. He felt his stomach do a flip and decided he needed to quit thinking about puking.

"No, I just need to go check and make sure the guards are set for the evening rotation." He croaked and got onto his knees. All he had to do was uncoil one more joint and he would be standing, though he really didn't want to. The further away from his futon he got the more his head ached and the heavier his limbs felt. He didn't remember feeling this bad after Captain Kuchiki had knocked him out of the sky and he had fallen 5 stories. This felt more like when Asiogi Jizo poisoned him. Plus the bandages on his forearms had come loose and his sleeves rubbing against them felt like sandpaper on roadburn. He wished his stupid tattoos would just finish already.

"I know it's hard for you but don't be an idiot, lie back down. You're sick, let the 3rd seat handle it." she spoke slowly as if to a child.

"The 3rd seat is on vacation and it's the lieutenant's duty. Besides," he finally made it onto his feet and he saw little bursts of colour explode in front of his eyes. He ignored them though. "Your brother just said to go home not that I was off duty." He staggered to his steps to find his sandals, when he heard a loud angry shriek in his head, making him wince. "Sorry, Zabi," he yelped and scurried back over to pick up his nasty zanpakto.

"_Damn right you should be sorry, worthless git!" _Snaketail hissed at him_._

"_Moron, you should stay in bed!" _the baboon king growled.

"I'll be fine guys," he trailed off, leaning against his door frame waiting for the pain from Zabimaru's sharp hiss and booming growl's to fade.

"_Tsk, don't come crying to us, when you fall flat on your face in front of the men."_ Snakey threw at him.

"I am not going to fall on my face, guys. Give me some credit, will ya. I've been worse off than this and still fought." He argued, stuffing the snippy sword into his sash.

"Zabimaru giving you a hard time again?" Rukia asked from his elbow and he blushed not having realized he was talking out loud to them. Maybe he was worse off than he thought. No, he could do this, all he had to do was walk around and make sure the guards were in place then he could come back and lie down.

"He's always giving me a hard time about something." He answered and tried to ignore how gravely his voice sounded. It was true though, Zabimaru often acted like he thought Renji wasn't good enough for him and it hurt straight down to his bones. He hated feeling like he let his partner down. It always made him feel completely worthless. So he would show them both that he could do this. He wasn't weak, he could do it. He straightened up and looked down at her, "I'll be back in about an hour or so."

"I'm coming with you," she tucked Sode no Shirayuki in her belt and smiled at him. "Besides, I wouldn't want to miss you face planting." He ground his teeth and headed out into the 100 plus degree evening.

First stop was the 6th's offices, which luckily were just on the other side of the hall from his quarters. He accepted a quick salute from the two guards posted in front of the captain's office and was surprised to see Kuchiki come out.

"I thought you were going to watch over him, Rukia?" he almost sounded displeased.

"I am," she observed Renji talking to two other guards, even though he was really listening to their conversation.

"Do I need to order him to go back to his quarters?" Oddly that might make him feel better, then he wouldn't have to walk all over the place but then again it wasn't like he couldn't.

"No, if you do that, he'll never learn." She smiled smugly and Renji felt his temper flare. She would be the only one learning. He would show her how strong he was!

So they continued, even though he had coughed so much he had lost his voice, the heat felt like he was in an oven, and his head hurt so much he could barely see straight. He had made it though, the last guard was checked and he was free to go back and lie down. He stood in the shade of a tree for a moment, while he waited for Rukia to catch up and wondered where the weird buzzing sound he was hearing was coming from. He decided that she was taking too long and maybe sitting down for a rest might be a good idea, that was until he realized he was already on his hands and knees with no memory of when he got that way. But, at least the buzzing had stopped. The grass was cool and slightly damp under his hands and pressing his overheated forehead to it seemed like a good idea too.

"Renji," he felt her arms around him at the same time he heard her voice, "trying to eat grass to make yourself feel better?" she joked as she pulled him up onto his knees. He almost fought her on it. The grass had been deliciously chilly. She pressed her cheek against him and groaned, "geeze, I could fry a steak on you, you're so hot." He just let his eyes droop and enjoy her scent. She always smelled like gardenias and snow fall. She let him stay that way for a minute then stopped him before he could actually fall asleep, "you think you can make it back to your quarters?"

"Yeah," he grunted and used the tree to haul himself up. The world tipped precariously sideways for a moment but Rukia slipped her arm around his waist and steadied him. It didn't matter though, he was not going to pass out from the flu no matter how much he wanted to. It didn't stop him from whining to her though, "Rukia, maybe this was a bad idea."

"No kidding," she smiled at him and propelled him forward, leaving her arm wrapped around him the entire way back. He knew it wasn't proper for them to be walking like this. It could give the wrong idea but frankly he didn't care. She helped him back to his quarters and dumped him on his futon. He leaned back with his eyes closed until he felt a cool damp cloth on his forehead and looked up at Rukia. "Idiot," she scolded him then pulled him onto her lap and continued to press the cloth to his face. "I don't understand you sometimes," she finally said after a pause. "Why do you have this insane need to push yourself so hard? You're sick, why won't you just stay down until you get better?"

"You know why," he croaked. It was obvious, you couldn't show weakness no matter what. The minute you were too weak to protect yourself and your family was the minute you lost everything.

"We aren't in the Rukon anymore," she whispered and ran the cloth along his neck. "No one here will try and take what's yours." No one but Shigeru, he thought but kept quiet. It wasn't a fair assessment anyway. She wasn't his and hadn't been for a long time. But she was the most precious thing of all, the only thing he really wanted. "You're safe here. I wish I could get that through your thick skull. And even if you weren't you have people that will watch your back for you. Kira, Hisagi, Momo, even Nii-sama would all help make sure nothing happened to you if you were too weak to take care of yourself." He shook his head. He couldn't ask any of them to do something like that. "I'm here," she cut him off before he could answer, "and I would never let anyone hurt you." He looked up at her. "So please lay down that ridiculous pride of yours and let me take care of you or I swear to god I am going to beat you to death with your own shoes." He didn't answer her but closed his eyes and allowed her to continue fussing over him.

The next time he woke, it was dark and his teeth were literally chattering from feeling so cold. He almost groaned because he had both of the blankets he owned on his bed already. He curled into as tight of a ball as he could and tried to still the shivering because they were making his joints ache. His nose was so stuffed up he could barely smell and it made him feel incredibly disoriented. Plus, he wondered where Rukia went. He guessed she must have gone home to her big comfortable room at the Kuchiki estates. He couldn't blame her, it was way nicer than his barracks. He squinted at his side table at least wishing that she had left him some water.

He sat up, resigned that he would have to go get his own drink, when he noticed the light in his bathroom turn off and the door slide open. "Hey big guy, are you ok?" she knelt in front of him and touched his face. "You're still hot as hell," she frowned but he couldn't seem to care, not when she was only wearing his goofy chappy bunny t-shirt from the human world, with wet hair, and smelled slightly like his shampoo. There was something so insanely sexy to him about his scent on her and it got worse as she rose to fetch him some water and the light from the kitchen rendered her sleeping clothes completely see through. He just wished he wasn't so sick so he could enjoy it. He shivered involuntarily and decided to scratch that, it was a good thing he was sick or he might embarrass both of them.

"Thanks," he accepted the water and drained half of it around his shaking hand.

She pushed him back down after he shook off her offer of food and pulled the covers back. "I'm not as good at this as you, since I'm not big enough to wrap completely around you, but hopefully it will help." She slid into bed beside him with nothing but their clothes separating them. She then wrapped her arms and legs around him, pressing herself as close to his shivering form as she could get. Her body heat immediately started to make him feel better and ease some of the aces. "Now, before you start complaining that we shouldn't be doing this, just don't. I'm not about to sit there and let you suffer for some stupid notion of propriety, especially when no one will ever know it happened." She reached up and stroked his hair, kissing his forehead, "now try and get some more sleep and if you need anything, let me know" He nodded and fell back asleep.

%%%%

Rukia was woken from a wonderful and she meant wonderful dream by the shrill sound of Renji's alarm going off at 5 in the morning. Before he could even think about getting up, she turned the thing off and snuggled back down next to him. She couldn't help her smile as he instinctively pulled her a bit closer, possessively not wanting to let her get too far away from him. She suspected that this was nearly perfect, well not quite. If he hadn't felt like a furnace on overdrive and she had been permitted to act out her dream on his mouth-watering body then it would have been perfect. Oh well, this would have to do for now.

Three hours later found them in an argument as he tried to get up and go to work. He agreed with the premise that he was still to unwell to get up and train so therefore had forgiven her for turning off his alarm, but he refused to capitulate and admit he couldn't go to work. Their disagreement had become so heated that it could be heard through the halls of the 6th and had attracted even the captain.

That might not have been so bad, except Renji chose that exact moment to slide his door open and expose the fact he was only half dressed and she was still wearing nothing but bed head and one of his t-shirts. "Nii-sama, Captain," the both yelped in unison as his stony, grey eyes trained on both of them. Then they both simpered, "I can explain."

"Lieutenant, why is my sister wearing your shirt and not her uniform?" Renji looked around panicked, not knowing where she had put her uniform. He opted for the next best thing and grabbed his favorite kimono and threw it over her. One day she would just have to start leaving clothes over here, it would save so many misunderstandings.

"Sorry sir," he rasped, his voice still barely audible and his face now the same shade as his hair. She enjoyed watching him squirm because this wouldn't have happened if he had just stayed in bed like he was supposed to. She pulled the kimono around herself and grumped at how large it was. Even her hands were completely obliterated by the sleeves.

"Rukia, why is Abarai out of bed since he is still clearly unwell and you were charged with taking care of him?" It was her turn to blush and stammer.

"Sorry, Nii-sama," she hung her head in the exact same way Renji was after being scolded.

"Now someone please explain what is going on," he put his hands behind his back and watched them both. Rukia felt like she was a specimen in the 12rh.

"I'm sorry, sir," Renji started then was cut off by a hacking fit.

"He was being stubborn," she threw him a nasty look. "I told him to stay in bed but he said he needed to get to work." She explained, sure he would side with her.

"That doesn't explain your level of undress," he tilted his head sideways like bird.

"Well, he was cold and I thought sharing body heat would help, like he did for me but I knew I would get hot so I thought the less I had on, the better," she continued to babble, digging herself in even deeper but seemed unable to stop every time she looked up at him.

"It's my fault," they both said in unison again. Rukia could see Renji was still planning on ignoring how sick he was and going to work anyway so she took her change and took a step forward, pretending to trip on the long kimono. Renji of course moved to catch her. When he did, she pounced on him, knocking him to the ground and pinning his arms under her knees. The problem was that in her current position, the kimono slipped off and everyone in the hall could see that she had nothing under her shirt except a pair of skimpy human panties with skulls wearing bows on them. Right now she didn't really care though, not as long as Renji got back in bed.

"Rukia," Renji choked, "get off me," he was now completely incapacitated by coughs.

"No, if I can take you down this easy, you should not be at work and especially have no business protecting my brother!" she snapped and glared down at him. The argument was quickly ended before it could escalate any further by her brother.

"Renji get in bed, Rukia put some clothes on." He turned to Rikichi, "you, stand guard and get them anything they need and it is on your head if Abarai leaves this room before tomorrow morning."

Soon the two were left alone in the room fuming at each other. "If you had just listened to me and stayed in bed, this wouldn't have happened." She glowered at him as he eventually changed into a pair of pajama pants with Kirin beer bottles on them, a gift from her as well, and crawled back into bed. She knelt beside him, and started to help him rewrap his red and scaly forearms. They made her skin hurt just looking at them.

"If you had kept some clothes on, I doubt he would have been nearly as angry. Now everyone is going to think that we are sleeping together." He snapped.

"You act like that is the worst thing that could happen?"

"Do you honestly think I would let your brother get killed if I was still conscious?" He looked hurt when he asked, and she felt some of her anger fading.

"Of course I don't, that's the problem," she sighed. She knew him and she knew that he would die before letting anything happen to Nii-sama or anyone else for that matter, which was a constant source of worry for her.

"I'll talk to the men tomorrow about what they saw," he whispered as he wrapped his arm around her and she leaned into him.

"I don't really care what they think." She pressed her head against his cheek and could still feel a strong fever burning in him.

"You should, it's your reputation at stake." She wondered if he was actually embarrassed to be seen with her. After all, she knew he could bed someone as beautiful as Matsumoto, maybe he didn't think she was pretty enough to be associated with. She pushed the thought away though, it didn't really matter, they were just friends and it seemed like that's all they would ever be.

"Frankly," she smiled and tried to put on a brave front, even though inside she was down as hell thinking about him not wanting her, "it helps me if people think I'm your girl. Everyone leave me alone."

"You are my girl," he hugged and she felt that wonderful safe feeling, "just not the way they think and it's probably your brother that keeps people away."

She pulled him down so he was lying on his back and cuddled next to him. "No, it's you. Shigeru is the only one that doesn't think we are dating and he's the only one that has ever asked me out." She tugged his hair and smiled up at him. He grinned back but didn't look that happy. She guessed he must feel worse than she though.

"Yeah, I guess," he mumbled then pulled her a little tighter for a moment, like he was saying good bye or something.

"Get some sleep, sweetheart and I'll find us some breakfast." She rose and rather than putting on her own clothes, she took one of his uniform tops and wrapped it around herself, liking the feel of his scent surrounding her. It was going to be a long day but it was a small price to pay if it made him feel better.

**TBC**


	5. Service Dog

A/N: I got bored and decided to write a Bleach fic. Set 5+ years after the current Anime story line. As a general rule, I assume they are speaking in Japanese to each other so therefore do not need to add in any extraneous bits. The only time I use it, is when there is no English equivalent, such as honorifics.

A/N 2 I know I have long chapters but I can't help it. I prefer to keep them all together rather than many shorter ones.

Thanks for the reviews they always help the "process."

Enjoy

Disclaimer: I own nothing probably not even the idea.

**Chapter 5: Service Dog**

Byakuya heard their arrival before he saw them and wondered if he had time to duck out of his window. There were many perks to being nobility but one thing that he absolutely hated was having to entertain vapid annoying gentry that saw themselves as far more important than they really were. In other words, people like Shigeru. He still had no clue what Rukia saw in that fool. Though he had promised himself long ago he would not interfere with her love life the way the elders had tried to do to him, he really wanted to sit her down and just ask her why?

He could see through the crack in his door that Rukia and Shigeru had arrived, followed by his grandfather and to make matters even more annoying, Lady Yoruichi in cat form no less. He wondered if he could beg off having the flu and decided that it had been three weeks since the illness had last hit anyone in the 6th so it probably wouldn't work. With little other choice, he dropped his mask of indifference onto his face and met his guests at the door, blocking his lieutenant in with him.

He noticed there was a low table being set up in the center of the room with many cushions and wondered who had ordered it. Then realized it must have been his grandfather. He loved the man, he was the closest thing to a father figure he had but if he didn't learn that he wasn't in charge anymore, Byakuya was going to hurt him. "Ah, I see the servants managed to get things set up in time," Ginrei said by way of greeting, confirming his suspicion. Conniving old coot!

"It's lovely, Grandfather," Rukia smiled at him from her spot beside Shigeru, who was firmly holding her hand. Before he could take notice of anymore details, Yoruichi tried to jump onto his shoulder, but he waited till the last moment and side stepped so she ended up slightly behind him. He was not a transport for spoilt cats, thank you very much.

"Let's sit," Ginrei commanded everyone and Byakuya noticed Renji standing by the door as they all gracefully arranged themselves around the ornate table.

"I'll just leave you guys," he stammered and turned to go, clearly uncomfortable around the group of nobles as they were set up in front of his desk in the middle of his office.

"Do serve us some tea Renji," Ginrei ordered and Byakuya ground his teeth at the wily old man. His grandfather knew that Byakuya wouldn't publically contradict him and he damn well knew Renji deserved to at least be addressed as Abarai-san if not his full martial title but he chose instead to degrade him to make a point. If he defended him, it would put him at odds with the others but if he didn't he would be disloyal to his men. Family vs. squad was a quandary he hated finding himself in and Ginrei knew it.

"I'll call one of the serving girls, Kuchiki-dono," he bowed to leave.

"That's not what I said," he snapped, then smiled, "Goodness, you had better be strong, because lord knows you don't seem very smart. I said I wanted you to serve us tea."

"No, grandfather, let me do it," Rukia shifted so she could stand, "I would consider it an honour." Yes, of course Rukia would try to deflect attention away from Renji, finally seeming to publicly remember that they were friends. Lately he had lost quite a bit of respect for her over her treatment of Renji. The more time she spent with Shigeru and his family, the more she started to act like the annoying nobles ladies, who looked down on others that he couldn't stand. He supposed he couldn't blame it all on Kyouraku, as she was clearly enjoying Ginrei's favour at the moment. But the protective gesture towards Renji was helping.

"Of course not, dear, you just stay there and let the help do their jobs. It would be an insult to have a lady such as yourself serve, when someone like him is around not doing anything." Yoruichi swished her tail watching Byakuya and his grandfather like it was a game of tennis and he forced his hands to relax from the fists they were curling into. That codger was just too good. He had trapped Renji into helping them by annexing his office so he couldn't do his real job. Byakuya may have vowed not to interfere in Rukia's romantic life but clearly Ginrei intended to at least try and sway her away from the lieutenant and towards the noble. He himself was good at subtle machinations, but he was nothing but a student at the feet of the master, Ginrei.

"But," she started, looking back at Renji.

"Don't worry, I'll get some tea." He watched Abarai slink out, clearly unhappy. It made him slightly angry that he worried if his lieutenant was upset but he pushed it away and remained impassive.

"Why on earth do you keep that ape around, Byakuya? Surely you can find a more noble second," Shigeru sniffed after Renji left.

"He can use Bankai," Yoruichi explained, "and is the fastest and strongest of all of the lieutenants." She paused then looked at him, "it's said his fangs even once reached the moon." He ground his teeth in response, wondering if she had been watching their fight but not interfering.

"I find that difficult to believe given where he came from," Shigeru bit out, then smiled at Rukia, taking her hand. "By the way, you have impressed me so much that I'm thinking of becoming a Soul Reaper too. I do have a fair amount of Spiritual Pressure and I feel like it might be nice to give back to the Seireitei." Rukia giggled and tittered, making Byakuya sick to watch her. This was so unlike the strong, spunky Rukia he saw when she was around Renji. He hated this insipid noble before him. Women that acted like her were one of the many reasons he had fallen in love with an orderly from the 78th.

Renji finally returned balancing a tray on his hand, waiter style. He wasn't surprised, since he knew Renji had worked in the mess hall as a server during his days in the Academy to help pay for his and Rukia's expenses. The problem was that Ginrei and the others were expecting a formal service and he had already screwed up. That man was just too damn manipulative for his or anyone else's good. Forcing Rukia to watch Renji muddle around trying to placate nobles was basically reminding her how far above him she was, while simultaneously reminding Renji how far below her he was. He also guessed it was a test, if Rukia stood up for Renji it would prove that her feelings for him were stronger than those for Shigeru but if she didn't. Well, in his mind all it proved was that she didn't want to make a scene in public.

He set the tray down and loomed over everyone rather than kneeling like he should. He also slid food across the table rather than going behind and to someone's left. And all this was after not bowing, being dressed correctly, or even bringing the appropriate type of tea. Byakuya's only consolation was that Renji probably didn't know how bad he was doing so couldn't feel as embarrassed as he should. Shigeru and Rukia's snickers didn't help. But to be fair, hers were more nervous giggles.

The final insult was when Ginrei rearranged Shigeru's walking stick, tripping Renji, making him spill scalding hot water all over his hand. Renji hissed but help back the curse his captain knew he wanted to let loose. "Really Byakuya, can I borrow him for parties. It's like watching a retarded monkey try and serve tea." Shigeru laughed and everyone joined in except himself. Byakuya tried to catch his lieutenant's eyes but the man stubbornly kept his head bowed as he sopped up the boiling hot water.

After the abysmal service, Byakuya watched Shigeru saunter out of his office chatted with Ginrei, and looked down at his hands. There was a bit of sticky sugar stuck to his fingers and it was driving him crazy. He was fastidious by nature, or if anyone else was asked, a complete neat freak and this simply could not be borne. He hated being dirty. Worse, he hated being sticky. He especially hated being sticky and gritty at the same time. But worst of all was dirty, sticky, gritty, and sugary smelling.

He walked into the officers' restroom to wash his hands and was met by the sound of porcelain breaking and then repetitive thumping. Normally he would ignore it, assuming if someone was hiding in the bathroom, they obviously wanted to be left alone; however, he sensed his lieutenant's spiritual pressure and grew overly concerned at what exactly Renji might be hiding. The last time he had trusted Abarai to take care of a secret problem involving a bathroom, his office was flooded. He therefore rounded the corner, after washing the syrup off his hands, trying to fathom what mayhem he would be met with. What he had not expected was the site he saw.

His normally proud lieutenant was sitting on the floor beside a completely shattered sink with his knees pulled up to his chest, one arm tucked against his him and the other crossed on top of his legs, head leaned back against the wall. Then he saw the man crack the back of his own skull against the support beam behind him and mutter, "stupid," with each hit. He would never say that Renji ever looked small but there was something diminished about him at that moment, as if without all his bluster and bravado, he was stripped down to the little boy he used to be. His first instinct was to flashstep away before Renji noticed he was there, vulnerability made him uncomfortable, but no such luck. The younger man opened his eyes and looked at him. At first he looked completely despondent then an expression of pure horror came across his face at being caught by his Captain.

"Oh god, sir, I'm sorry."

"Are you injured?" He asked, unsure what else to do. Emotions were one thing he had little experience with and wanted even less but he did notice blood on the floor beside the destroyed sink. .

"No, sir, I'm fine," Renji stuttered, tucking his arm tighter against his chest.

"Then why is there blood on the floor?" Byakuya questioned as if talking to a child.

"Maybe a little," his subordinate finally admitted, "but it's nothing, just a scratch. I'll clean up this mess." He threw Renji one of his expensive, monogrammed, linen handkerchiefs. The red head accepted it and wrapped it around his bleeding knuckles, blood quickly seeping through and staining it. He had to fight not to wrinkle is nose at the currish behaviour and at how red the back of Renji's hand looked, against the very white cloth.

"Keep it," he intoned, preparing to leave when a voice, sounding disturbingly like a cross between Rukia and Ukitake, told him he should at least ask what was wrong. He took a deep breath and tried to sound caring and approachable, "is there something else bothering you?" Renji actually jumped at that, looking even more distressed and Byakuya realized he should have listened to his instincts. Men should not talk about things. "Very well then," he turned to leave and caught sight of Renji in the mirror, the man's lip was actually quivering. Not to mention that he slid the cloth further up on his fingers and Byakuya could see large blisters on his skin. He rolled his eyes and tried to ignore the fact that he felt like an ass for not doing something. After all, this was Rukia's best friend and his lieutenant; he should at least try to do something.

He crouched down, deciding that intimidating the man probably would not induce him to talk about his _feeling._ "Renji, tell me why you are hiding in the bathroom, destroying our sinks, and banging your head against the wall declaring your questionable intellect or I will send someone to find Rukia."

The mutt looked disturbed at the idea but swallowed and looked up at the ceiling, leaning his head back. "Because I'm a fuck up," he savagely made a fist, causing blood to start dripping down his fingers.

"What did you do wrong this time?" Byakuya steeled himself for some apocalyptic screw up on the part of his vice captain, other than the complete idiocy of punching a sink.

"Everything. I'm not good enough. I never have been and now she knows. Why would she want a Rukongai mutt, if she can have a noble?" he mumbled the last part very low, as if Byakuya would find it shocking that he had romantic feelings towards Rukia.

"I don't believe I understand your quandary. You have always been nothing more than a common Rukon trash." Byakuya stated, somewhat confused and watched as Renji somehow wilted more. Even his pony tail was drooping.

"I know. I know that's what you guys think of me but now she knows too." He propped his injured hand up on his knee and Byakuya got a good look at it. Much as he had thought earlier, Renji must have burned his hand when he had spilled the water during the tea service, and quite badly too. He rose and retrieved their first aid kit, sorting through it until he found what he wanted. He then returned and knelt in front of his soldier.

"Let me see your hand," he requested.

"It's not that bad, sir," Renji pulled his back against his chest.

"Renji," he said again and held his hand out.

"Sir I can't have you patching me up, it isn't right," Renji demurred, looking side to side as if someone was going to jump out and scold him.

"Lieutenant," Byakuya said one last time, allowing his spiritual pressure to rise so Renji knew it was an order, not a request. The red head immediately proffered his wounded paw. He set about assessing and cleaning the burn. He never served in the 4th, but he knew how to use certain techniques at least enough to alleviate some of his second's pain. "Now continue your explanation." Kuchiki was slightly confused as Rukia had always known where Renji had come from.

"I'm a useless fuck up that should have just stayed as cannon fodder in the 11th," he continued. "I'm not even good enough to serve tea to people like you guys." Ok, so his tea service had been god awful but to be far he had probably never even been to a formal tea service and didn't know he was doing it wrong. "I always knew that you all were better than me but I guess I just forgot that she thought so too." And that was the final piece of the puzzle for him. Just has he had been afraid, it wasn't that Shigeru, Ginrei, or even Yoruichi had laughed at Renji that had hurt the man, it was that Rukia had laughed too. Renji ducked his head and looked up at him, "I was trying really hard, I have been for a long time but it doesn't matter, does it? I'm still just a stray dog and that's all I'll ever be."

Oddly, Byakuya's heart sort of went out to his lieutenant. At some point, everyone thought they weren't good enough for whatever they needed to do, even he had once or twice. He supposed Renji's problems were a bit worse than most because many would say he was not good enough to be Rukia's friend or more. Secretly, Byakuya was not one of those people. But he knew it wasn't just that, it was everywhere and everything Renji did showed how different he was from most other Soul Reapers. It was true that others were also from the Rukon but Yuchiru and Zaraki were the only ones from a worse place than him. And people always judged him on where he was from instead of what he could do. Hell, Byakuya had at least weekly arguments with his Grandfather over his employ of '_such common gutter trash in their proud unit_.'

"Lieutenant," he barked, making Renji meet his eyes, "are you trying to contradict me?" He decided to dispel Renji's complex using the one technique his lieutenant regularly failed against, logic.

"What, no, sir." Renji shook his head, looking confused. Unfortunately, a very common expression on him.

"Have you ever known me to suffer a fool or keep on a squad member that I do not find up to par?"

"Of course not, sir."

"Have you ever known me to go easy on someone for sentimental reasons?"

"Not that I have ever seen." He shook his head.

"Have you ever known me to hold my tongue if I think someone is doing a poor job?"

"Absolutely not, Captain." Renji was starting to sit up a little straighter with each answer.

"Then why, pray tell, are you positing that I allow you to remain my lieutenant even though you are a fool? Do you think I am simply doing it for sentimental reasons or because I do not feel I can speak my mind around you?"

"I didn't mean it like that," he stumbled over himself, trying to explain what he meant.

"How else am I supposed to interpret your ramblings? You know my policy towards those I employ yet you continue to deride yourself as worthless. Therefore either you are contradicting me or I am wrong and you should be sent to another unite." He paused for the desired effect, which was Renji looking like he was about to start arguing in earnest. "Do you want me to transfer you to another squad?"

"No, sir," he shook his head vehemently.

"Very well, then perhaps you should stop second guessing me and yourself. You should not allow other's opinions to weigh so heavily upon your heart." Sadly, this was the closest thing to a profession of affection that Byakuya was capable of. "Especially those that have no idea of who you are or what strengths you bring to the table. Remember, 'If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle'." He rose to tower over his lieutenant, a rare treat. "Now, I suggest you find one of your useless friends and go out to drown your sorrows in sake." He walked away but stopped at the door to throw over his shoulder, "consider it an order."

He walked back to his office to find Lady Shihoin sitting at his desk. However, she had changed back into human form, a very naked glorious human form. He took a deep breath and thought about the times when he was a child and was forced to share a soaking tub with this grandfather and the head captain. Hopefully that would distract him from the delicious site of her thigh tattoo and the perky expanses of her dark, caramel breasts.

"That was an awfully nice thing for you to do, Byak-boo." She shifted slightly, giving him a clearer view of downy triangle between her legs, sending half of the blood out of his brain. 50 years alone had never seemed like such a long time.

"I need my lieutenant focusing on his job not on what some useless member of the gentry thinks of him." That was good, he was sure his voice sounded steady.

"True, true but giving him the afternoon off to go drinking? It almost makes it seem like you have a heart in there, my pretty, little princeling."

And just like that all attraction faded. "You know I detest that miserable nickname." That had originally been the Shiba brat's moniker for him but then his sister, Kisuke, and Yoruichi had all started using it to tease him, when he was a child. He was the youngest of all of the high nobles by 90 years and none of his so called peers ever let him forget it. Only Ganju was younger and he had not been born until the Shibas had fallen out of favour.

"Yes, yes, I remember but it so fits you." She rose and stood close enough that he could feel her breath against his neck Like flipping a switch, his stupid body betrayed him again as she slowly wrapped her arms around his neck, leaning in far enough to nibble on his ear, if she so chose. What was her game this time, he wondered as he encircled her thin yet strong waist with his arms as she whispered into his ear. "You are young, so pretty, and a prince in all but name, so you are a princeling"

It didn't matter, whatever the game, he would not lose to her. He picked her up and felt her gasp against him. The gasp turned into a shout as he carried her towards the door and dumped her on her ass on the other side of it, still completely naked.

"What the hell are you doing, Byakuya?" She yelled at him.

"Putting out the cat," he called from behind the now locked door to his office.

"If you are going to be like that, at least loan me something to wear on my way home!" she stomped her foot and he could just imagine her trying not to notice how many camera clicks and flash bulbs were going off around her.

"You are resourceful, my lady, I'm sure you will figure something out." Since no one was around he indulged in a smirk as he heard her ordering some nameless member to hand over his uniform top. He leaned back and decided that maybe today might not have been a total loss after all.

% % % %

Kira looked up from his papers, when he felt a familiar spiritual pressure in his doorway. Renji leaned against the door frame, his arms crossed over his chest and his left arm sporting bandages from his elbow down to his knuckles. The ones on his hand were new. Someone else might not have noticed but he could tell his friend seemed down. "What's up, legs, what did you do to your hand?"

Renji looked at the wounded limb while answering, "burned it serving tea then I punched a sink."

Kira played with the end of his writing brush, "I'm not sure if I'm more disturbed that you punched a sink or that you were serving tea? Did the sink make you angry?

"Little bit."

"Why?" Kira quirked his head to the side.

"Apparently I serve tea like a retarded monkey," he slid down the door frame till he was squatting on the floor, hands resting between his legs. Kira didn't doubt that fact for a minute but held his tongue.

"I didn't think you had ever even been to a tea service before."

"I went to that one tea class the weirdo lieutenant from the first had but Yachiru ruined it and I never went back." He shrugged.

"Why, exactly, were you serving tea then? You might have long hair but you don't really look like a girl."

"It was to the Captain, Lady Shihoin, Kuchiki-dono, Shigeru, and Rukia." He scratched at his hand a bit.

"If there was no servant around, why wasn't Rukia doing it? I know for a fact she has been trained because I've had tea with her and Momo before."

"Because it would have been demeaning to have a Kuchiki lady serve, when there was Rukon gutter trash around." Renji looked away, a sure sign that his ego was bruised. "I screwed the whole thing up. I embarrassed my Captain and Rukia," he continued then mumbled, "they laughed at me."

Kira could now tell this went way beyond a dinged up pride at his failure to complete a task. This was a giant, glaring map of the social chasm between him and Rukia, burned into his chest. A tea ceremony would be second nature to a noble but Renji would have no idea what he was doing. It would serve as a subtle reminder that even though he had gained martial rank, his social rank was still miles below her and everyone else at that table. It just showed he was still a stray dog baying at a star.

He walked over and knelt in front of Renji, slowly reaching for his injured hand. The wrapping was neat and clearly not done by Renji himself. The bandages needed to be sealed with a fairly complicated kido spell that he knew was beyond his friend. If these types of bandages were used, the burn must have been fairly bad. "Did they give you anything for the pain?"

"Who?"

"At the 4th, did they give you anything for pain? Wounds heal faster if you aren't in pain."

"No, I didn't go to 4th. Captain Kuchiki wrapped it for me."

"Really?" He was slightly surprised that the perpetually austere captain had been willing to bandage Renji's wounds. The man was uptight and unfriendly even when compared to other aristocrats but sometimes Kira suspected he might have a soft spot for his lieutenant.

"Yeah, he came and found me after Rukia la," he stuttered, then continued, "after I screwed up and I guess he felt sorry for the monkey. His cat hatred aside, he's never cruel to animals so he wrapped up my hand for me, quoted SunTzu, and told me to go get drunk." It was never a good sign, when Renji called himself and animal.

Kira squeezed his fingers then stood up, holding his hand out. "Come on then, let's go find Ran and Hisagi and get you hammered. Captain's orders," he smiled as he hoisted Renji back into a standing position.

Two hours later, they sat at a mid priced sake house of Kira's choosing with a drunk Rangiku, an even drunker Hisagi, a mostly sober Kira, and maudlin Renji. "It isn't fair," Renji slurred, his speech hampered by having part of his mouth covered by his hand. Kira patted him on the shoulder and he sank down even further so his cheek rested on the heel of his good hand. "Right now, she is having dinner with him at the Kuchiki manor and I'm sitting here drinking till I feel sick."

"I'm sure you have had dinner with her lots of times," Matsumoto tried to placate him.

"Yeah, but do you know how many times I have been invited to dine at the Kuchiki table?" they all shook their heads, "never," he answered. "I've only ever been formally invited to their house 5 times and they were all for Rukia's birthday parties or that one flower viewing festival after all that zanpakto stuff. Last year I had to sit in the kitchen," he pouted. That was pretty cold, even Gin had usually had dinner with Kira once a week.

"Who comes up with the seating charts?" Izuru asked, thinking that was pretty rude, even for a Kuchiki. It was the man's job to watch Byakuya's back during battle, you would think that the Captain wouldn't want to piss him off just out of self preservation.

"I think Ginrei-dono still handles most of the household stuff since, the Captain isn't married anymore and Rukia won't do it." He sighed, "Can I leave?" Renji whined and Kira knew that he wanted to go hide somewhere and feel sorry for himself. Well he was not about to let that happen. Renji had far too much of a tendency to fall into a spiral of self doubt and suicidally stupid actions, whenever Rukia hurt his feelings too badly.

An hour later, Rankigu was falling down drunk and Hisagi was still sloppily leaning at her side. Kira remained sober. "Why didn't they just tell me I was fucking it up?" Renji question, head on the table and hair spread out into Kira's dinner plate.

"Maybe they didn't want to hurt your feelings?" Hisagi tried.

"Because laughing at me and calling me a monkey hurts so much less." He rubbed nose. "I can't feel my nose," he sat up and turned to Izuru, "Can you feel my nose?"

The blond poked Renji in the nose, making the red head cross his eyes, "yes, Renji, it's right here."

Renji leaned over and pillowed his head on Kira's arm. "Thanks, yer the best."

He smiled and pet Renji's hair, enjoying the softness of it. "No problem." He remembered all of a sudden how very it long it had been since he had seen Renji anything more than slightly buzzed much less this drunk. "Man, I cannot believe what a light weight you are with alcohol," Kira joked. "You need to drink more and train less, then you'll have enough body fat to not be drinken under the table by a girl."

"You should train more and drink less," Renji mumbled. "I worry that you and Hisagi drink so much." He looked down and Kira patted his back, remembering again why he was totally in love with the idiot. Renji sighed and nuzzled him. "I should just give up on chicks. They are too much trouble." Hisagi toasted to that and so to Matsumoto for some reason. "Do you have any idea how much easier my life would be if I just started dating Kira." He wrapped his friend up in a bear hug, making Kira feel warm and fuzzy down to his core. "Why can't you have a pussy instead of just being one?" Renji asked dramatically and Kira elbowed him in the stomach, no longer feeling warm and fuzzy.

"Dick!" Kira snapped at him but was secretly pleased Renji was at least joking. He then watched the smile slip from his friend's face as he sank back down onto the table.

"How is this getting drunk stuff supposed to make me feel better? I mostly just feel sick."

"Oh, Renji, you just need to drink more," Rangiku smiled at him and poured him more sake.

Forty five minutes later Renji was lying on the bench on his side. "I shouldn't have come here tonight. I should have gone and trained instead."

"Training is no fun, this is fun," Hisagi smiled, while petting Rangiku's hair. She was lying with her head in his lap.

"But if I don't train, I won't get stronger and if I don't get stronger I won't ever be good enough for her." He pushed himself up, "I won't ever really be good enough, will I? No matter what I do I'll still just always be a dumb Rukon mutt to them, won't I?"

"She doesn't think of you like that, Red." Matsumoto whispered, "to her you're not a lieutenant, a soul reaper, or a mutt, you're just her Renji." Kira knew that she wasn't really talking about Renji and Rukia so much as her and Gin but he didn't say anything.

"But she laughed at me. I tried my hardest and she didn't smile, she just laughed with the rest of them."

"And so what if she does think that you are below her?" Hisagi finally piped up. "Does it make you any weaker in a fight, does it make you any less of a person to the rest of us, do you think that your friends give a shit what a bunch of snooty nobles think of you? Of course none of it matters. Do you think that twerp can use bankai, or fight and defeat an arrancar or a Bount's doll? Do you honestly think that pretty boy punk would be able to stay on his feet for 5 seconds if Captain Kuchiki or Zaraki decided to exert that crazy Spiritual Pressure of theirs much less put up enough of a fight against him to force him into using Senbonzakura Kageyoshi. Come on Renj, I know it sucks when someone you care about disses you but you can't let it get you this down."

Renji gave him a small smile and wrapped his arm around his middle. "I want to go home, I feel sick."

Kira finally gave in, mostly because it was late, he was tired of babysitting drunks, and Renji was starting to look a little green around the gills. How in the world Renji put up with this so often, he would never know.

"Come on, big guy, let's get you home." He helped Renji stand and they both nearly toppled over when Renji's famous balance gave out on him. Luckily Hisagi was there to help. Between the two of them, through mostly Kira's direction and Hisagi's strength, they got the drunk man back to his barracks. The 6th was set out like most of the other units, in that the lieutenant's and captain's quarters were behind the administrative offices. Hisagi was forced to shoulder the majority of Renji's limp weight as Kira shuffled through the 30 odd keys Renji had to find the one that opened his quarters.

"Are we home yet?" Renji asked for about the fourth time and Kira gritted his teeth.

"Almost, Red, almost." He answered, wondering why Renji was so insistent to get home.

"Guys, don't tell my Captain about all the stuff I said. I don't want him to think I'm contra," he belched in the middle of word and Kira was starting to realize why Renji wanted to be home so badly. "disagreeing with him. I don't wanna' get sent to another unit." He noticed that the red head was drooling and redoubled his efforts. He looked back as Hisagi tried to prop Renji against a wall to keep him upright. The problem was that he chose a paper section of the wall instead of a wooden one. Both HIsagi and Renji fell through the wall into the Captain's office, landing in a heap on the floor. To add insult to injury, the captain still seemed to be in occupancy in his office and raised his elegant eyebrow at them as Kira flailed, trying to stop them. Once on the floor Renji looked up at him through squinted eyes. "Are we almost home yet, 'cause I really need to puke." He slurred.

"Lieutenant Kira, I believe you dropped some things on my floor." The noble drawled at him as he tried to pull Renji upright. Hisagi was of no help as he appeared to have fallen asleep. In fact, he broke an impressive amount of wind, his face then curving into a relieved smile in his slumber. Renji on the other hand let out a rather loud, disgusting, wet sounding burp and turned two shades paler. "Please deposit Lt. Abarai someplace where he will not leaves stains then return for Lt. HIsagi."

"Yes, sir." Izuru scrambled to get Renji into his bathroom before he regurgitated the sake they had been force feeding him all night. He half dragged half walked a drooling Renji into his bathroom as quickly as possible. He could hear the other man's stomach gurgling and he knew what sort of unpleasant night and morning his friend was going to be in for. Maybe next time he would listen to him when he said he had had enough.

"Are we home yet," Renji whined again just as Kira got him into his bathroom.

"Yes, Renji, you're home."

"Good," as if on autopilot he coiled his long hair up, dropped in front of his toilet, and started to violently revisit his sake. Kira patted his back slightly then left to retrieve Hisagi. He knew if the positions had been reversed, Renji would have stayed to take care of him, but he just couldn't. He was a sympathetic puker.

"Renji, I'm going to go check on Hisagi, I'll be back in a little bit. Will you be ok till then?" He asked from outside of the bathroom, fighting the urge to start retching himself.

"Don' bother, I'll be fine," Renji groaned back at him and Kira took his out.

He nearly ran back to Kuchiki's office, thinking about anything but the sounds Renji was making. He found Hisagi where he left him, the only difference was that now the older lieutenant was lying in a puddle of his own urine. He nearly jumped when he heard the captain's voice. "Lt. Kira, please remove Lt. Hisagi back to the 9th division and then return to clean up this mess." Kira slumped his shoulders but complied. After all, he had been in the 4th so it wasn't like this was the first time he would have to clean up someone else's barracks.

% % % %

Renji's alarm then Zabimaru screamed in his ear five hours later, making him regret that he had bought the stupid think in the human world. Normally he woke at 5 am every morning for two hours of training, a quick shower, a quick breakfast then off to work. Not this morning though. The first thing he realized after he managed to get the infernal clock to stop chirping at him, was that the room was spinning. Even with his brain slowed by copious amounts of alcohol, he knew he was in trouble. His body never reacted well to situations where he could feel movement and not see it or vice versa. He tried opening his crusty eyes but the light seared into his brain and he slammed them shut. The problem was that made the spinning 10 times worse.

Renji took several deep breaths and tried to go back to sleep and ignore the fact his mouth and throat were so dry it was painful. He knew he had lost though when his Heuco Mundo dry mouth was suddenly flooded with saliva and he realized he had about 4 seconds to get to his toilet or risk making a mess on his floor. He made it just in time; his knees, sore and bruised from maintaining this same position for nearly an hour last night, hit the floor about the same time burning bile crawled back up his throat. What a miserable fucking morning. He was never drinking again. "_Yeah right_," his sarcastic zanpakto laughed his booming laugh through his aching head.

When he was finished, he reset his alarm for 8, hoping he would feel well enough by then for some light training. It turned out, he didn't. Another round of puking and a few more bruises on his knees and he decided that 11 might be a better choice. At 11, even Zabimaru seemed sympathetic and told him to go back to bed after another 30 minutes of dry heaving. He must really be pathetic if even Zabi felt sorry for him. Usually his sword did nothing but insult him and scream for blood.

At 1pm, he decided enough was enough and got up even though his head was killing him and he felt like he could hurl on command. He figured if he just started moving, willpower alone should help. So he pulled on some sunglasses, tied his hair back in an even messier ponytail than usual and trudged towards the mess hall. While each squad had their own kitchen during the week, on weekends, only two kitchens stayed open and Renji chose the one closer to his barracks, which happened to be the officer's mess. When he entered, he was greeted with laughs and cheers from a corner containing Hisagi, Kira, Tetsuzaemon, Matsumoto, Ikkaku, and Yumichika. He winced and wished he had stayed in his room.

As he sank down beside them, they all started to sing at the top of their lungs off key, some pounding the table and others using their chopsticks as drumsticks to make an inordinate amount of noise. He pressed the heel of his hand to his aching head, cursing Zabimaru and his gift of hyperactive senses. "You guys all fucking suck, you know that," he ground out.

They all laughed in unison at him, even as Kira patted him on the back. "How are you feeling, Legs?" Matsumoto asked him as she hailed over a serving girl. 'Izuru said you were pretty rough last night after we left."

"Just peachy," he grimaced and downed half a cup of tea trying to ignore the nausea churning in his gut at the smell of food. He knew he would feel better if he just ate something. He opted for eggs because the thought of trying to swallow sticky rice down his dry throat was just too unpleasant.

He managed to choke down a few bites, mostly swallowing without chewing and with the help of copious amounts of water. That was when he the smell of something sickenly sweet and spicy came drifting over to him, making him gag. "Hey Renji, what's up?" he felt Rukia's hand on his shoulder but pushed it away as he sprang up to run outside before he puked all over the table.

The last thing he heard before he made it to the door was Iba joking, "apparently his breakfast."

It didn't take long to bring up his meager meal and when he was finished he leaned back, panting against the side of the building. That was how Rukia found him. "Didn't like your eggs?" She approached him joking and handing him some water which he gladly accepted.

"Guess my stomach didn't, at least not while I'm incredibly hung-over," he sniffled, wanting nothing more than to curl up and go to sleep.

She looked up at him with a worried expression, "go home, I'll grab some okayu and bring it over to you."

"You don't have to," he began but she was already gone.

Home was a relative term to Renji since he hadn't really had one growing up. For a long time, home had been wherever Rukia was but even that had been taken away from him. Now, home was where his stand for Zabimaru and his bed were. As he slid his door shut though, home had never seemed quite so inviting. He collapsed on his bed, curling up in a miserable heap now even more committed to the idea that getting drunk did not solve problems. He dozed off again swearing to never over indulge again.

Rukia let herself in after she had gone back to the Kuchiki estate and had the cooks make Renji's favourite soups and plum tea. She set it down in his kitchen then snuck into his bedroom to find him curled up in the fetal position. His face was relaxed and errant wisps of red hair trailed over his face, soften the hard edges. He looked absolutely adorable.

She sat down beside him and he turned around to her, "you didn't have to come, it's just a hangover."

"I know," she brushed the loose hair away from his eyes, noting the dark circles. "I brought you some porridge and soup if you're hungry."

"You didn't have to," started but she put her finger over his lips.

"Stop saying that. I know I didn't have to but maybe I wanted to. Now are you ready to eat?"

"Not really," he answered.

"Good, we'll start with the okayu," she smiled and jumped up to fetch it. Renji picked at it, only eating a few bites, which worried her. Renji not eating usually meant there was something really wrong with him. "So you gonna' tell me why you went out and got so drunk you can barely function today?" She sprang on him.

"Just felt like it," he answered around a mouthful of rice mush. She personally didn't like it because it was bland and reminded her of being sick but she knew Renji loved it because it was bland and didn't bother his over sensitive nose or taste buds.

"Why did you just feel like it?"

"You know me, sometimes I get down about stuff," he mumbled setting his half eaten bowl aside.

"Yes, I do, and I know that you don't usually drown your sorrows in the bottom of a bottle, so what's up?" she pressed him as he lay back down.

"Nothing, I was just sort of sad about some things and decided to get drunk, it was a bad idea."

"God, you are such a fucking idiot," she laughed at him, wondering what it would take to get him to spill.

"If I'm such a fuck up, why are you even friends with me?" he shouted and she stared at him, taken aback. He normally didn't react so poorly to her teasing and she wondered if she had gone too far. She reached out for him, hoping her touch would calm him down but then he jumped up and muttered, "shit," before bolting for the bathroom. Not more than 2 seconds later, she heard him vomiting back up the small meal he had just eaten and she rose to get him some water. She returned to slide down the wall beside the bathroom door and worry. This was not like her Renji and fear was tying her own stomach into knots.

He finally emerged crawling on his hands and knees over to his futon. Rukia watched him curl around his sore stomach, with his back to her. With Nii-sama she was used to it but it always hurt, when Renji turned away from her. She sat down on his bed beside him and pet his hair, "here," she handed him the glass of water. He set it on the floor without even sipping it. She sat quietly not touching him for a few minutes, all the while silently freaking out as to what was wrong with him. After nearly 10 minutes, she couldn't take it anymore. "Renji, talk to me. What's bothering you?" She looked down, then started to card her fingers though his hair again. "You're starting to scare me."

She heard him sigh, then mumble, "you laughed at me."

"I'm always laughing, when we are together, sweetheart. You'll have to be more specific?" She moved closer to him, so her leg was against his back.

"Yesterday afternoon," he finally sipped at the water she gave him, making his voice sound much less gravely. "You and everyone else laughed at me because I fucked up serving tea. I didn't know I was doing it wrong. I'm sorry I embarrassed you and the Captain." She remembered immediately what he was talking about. She had been so nervous at the time that Shigeru's laughter had been contagious. It was the first time Nii-sama had agreed to sit down with Shigeru and deep down she was hoping he would tell her to dump him. It wasn't that she didn't like Kyouraku, he was handsome, smart, cultured, funny, and not nearly as annoying when he wasn't trying to impress Ginrei; however something with him just didn't click. The one big bonus he had was that now her grandfather was being so kind to her. But her brother had remained completely silent on the matter; in fact, he hadn't said a damn word the entire time. But the most stressful part may have been the insane tension between Ginrei and her brother. Nii-sama was clearly annoyed as hell at their grandfather and Ginrei was clearly overstepping his bounds and daring Byakuya to do something about it.

She hadn't meant anything by her giggles, though. "Renji, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings," she paused trying to think how to explain her hysterical state of mind.

"It's ok. Sometimes, most of the time actually, when it's just us; I forget." He sounded so down she wanted to hug him.

"Forget what, honey?"

"I forget that you're a princess and I'm just a stray mutt." She felt tears spring to her eyes. She hated when he talked about himself like that and it was painful that she was the one that had hurt him so badly. "I understand, I really do. I'm goofy and stupid and I tend to screw up half of the things I do so I know why you like Shigeru better." Wait, what had he just said.

She grabbed him by the shoulder and rolled him over onto his back, then crawled onto him and stared down. "You stupid, oaf!" she glared. "What is wrong with you? Just because I have another friend doesn't mean I don't like you anymore. You are not some old toy that I am going to throw away because I found a new one. Even though Shigeru and I have gotten closer, does not mean that I care about you any less. You, you giant lug, are still my best friend and the person I am closest too. So stop beating yourself up just because I was nervous and laughed when I shouldn't. I really couldn't care less if you are good at serving tea so long as you watch mine and my brother's backs while we fight so that we all come home safe." She crossed her arms over her chest, "Ok?"

He looked thoroughly chastised, "ok."

She slid off of him but cuddled against his side, "and another thing, I'm sorry I laughed at you. You are the last person in the world I ever want to hurt."

"It's alright, guess I overreacted." He started to stroke her hair with his warm hands. After awhile, she felt deliciously loose and relaxed like an overcooked noodle until Renji spoke again. "Hey Ruks, is there anything left to eat?" She smiled into his chest, knowing things were going to be alright. If Renji was hungry, then Renji would be fine.

**TBC**

Next chapter, Matsumoto tries to help.


	6. Adopt a Pet part 1

A/N: I got bored and decided to write a Bleach fic. Set 5+ years after the current Anime story line. As a general rule, I assume they are speaking in Japanese to each other so therefore do not need to add in any extraneous bits. The only time I use it, is when there is no English equivalent, such as honorifics.

Thanks for the reviews they always help the "process."

Enjoy

Disclaimer: I own nothing probably not even the idea.

**Chapter 6: Adopt a Pet**

"You did what!" was the first thing Captain Hitsugaya heard as he entered his office and was almost forced out by the sheer raging spiritual pressure that was bouncing around it. Matsumoto was smiling and giggling in a way that meant she knew she had screwed up but also knew she would mostly likely get away with it. Lieutenants Iba and Hisagi were trying to pin down a bucking Lieutenant Abarai, while Kira was holding all the edged weapons away from everyone.

"Would someone mind explaining to me what exactly is going on, in my office, I might add?" He stood as tall as he could. It was actually sort of pleasant that Abarai, that lanky bastard, had to look up to him for once.

"Oh, hello, Captain," Rangiku smiled and subtlety put him between herself and the angry redhead. "It's nothing to worry about, just a simple disagreement."

"Simple disagreement, my ass. When I get loose I'm going to flay your fucking lieutenant into pieces," Renji spat and nearly managed to dislodge Hisagi but Kira jumped in to help hold him face down.

"See, sir, nothing to worry about."

"Call me paranoid, but I still think I would like to know why Kuchiki's second wants you dead."

"I don't just want her dead, I want to tear her throat out with my teeth so I can taste her final pulse."

"Sometimes you are entirely too feral for your own good, Renji." She scoffed but moved even further away.

"Someone tell me what is going on or I am getting all of your captains!" Hitsugaya roared.

"She," Renji managed to shakily lift one hand and point menacingly at Matsumoto, "announced the entire Shinigami Women's Society that I needed a date."

"Well you do. You can't spend your entire life moping about a certain short Kuchiki. It isn't healthy." She defended herself and Toshiro pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You passed out a sign up sheet and told everyone I was a 'wounded, wittle, puppy that needed to be comforted'." He growled and Hitsugaya was starting to understand why Renji was so violent. Everyone knew he was a favored bachelor and add in a cute broken heart story and the poor guy wouldn't get a moments peace. "And that I could lick my own nose!"

"Well you can," she smiled at him, "and it was a big selling point besides, I limited the applicants to Lieutenant or higher and look," she produced a scroll from her sleeve and showed it to everyone, "I even scheduled all your dates so they wouldn't interfere with your annoying attention to duty and training." She handed the list to her Captain.

He read it aloud, "Tonight is Lieutenant Kotetsu," he began.

"She would be perfect for you since you are one of only like 5 people here taller than her," Rangiku threw in.

"Then Nanao, oh Kyouraku will have a field day with that." He continued to scan the list. "Nemu, huh, I wonder how her father will feel about it?"

"Nemu! I am not going out with that woman. There is no way in hell I am going anywhere near her or her creepy unit, so you can forget it." Renji managed to actually rock all three of the other lieutenants on his back, when he tried to move.

"At least I didn't put myself on there as a date for you, Renji," she pouted.

"Good, because if I wanted to get herpes I could go lick a hooker in the 78th for less trouble!" he shouted and Hitsugaya had to snort to hide his laugh. Renji did have a way of painting a colourful and vulgar picture.

He raised an eyebrow, "Momo is after her." He supposed he shouldn't be too surprised since they were good friends but the idea of them going on a date annoyed him a bit.

"Momo, seriously? I love her to death but I have no desire to fuck her." Toshiro was pretty sure a smile should not be the way he should respond to that last statement.

"Maybe she wants to fuck you, since she happily signed up. She was actually the first one in line." Matsumoto shot back, ignoring the sudden glare from her captain. "Besides, I was under the impression that you two had already," was as far as she made it before Kira interrupted.

"Not now, Rangiku, you are not helping."

"But she is his type, short, tiny, athletic, good at kido, no boobs." She continued.

"I don't have a type, you saggy heffer!" he yelled, and Hisagi almost went down again.

"I guess one girl doesn't technically make a type but Rukia is the only female I have ever seen you show an interest in." She tilted her head and tapped her chin, "wait is the reason you're taking this so badly because you're gay? If so, I know some very eligible men I can fix you up with." The captain shook his head and wondered what went on in that woman's head sometimes.

"Even though the sight of your stretch-mark scarred breasts and cavernous snatch nearly put me off of women, I assure you that not even 30 years of rooming with Ikkaku and Yumichika was able to get me turn that other cheek."

"Don't worry, Abarai, it gets better, she has you scheduled to go out with Soifon." He was pretty sure that if Renji had been any better at kido, he and his meddling lieutenant would both be flying through the wall right now.

"Soifon, Soifon! Are you insane, what the hell am I going to talk to her about, how much we both like the taste of pussy?" he raged than stopped cold, "wait a minute, why would she even sign up to go out with me anyway, she a dyke?"

"Yoruichi signed her up," Matsumoto mumbled and Renji actually managed to dislodge everyone except Tetsuzaemon.

"I will have to put up with a pissed off captain from the Stealth Force that doesn't even want to be there and is only showing up because her lesbian crush is making her?" His voice got louder and louder as the sentence went on and Kira and Hisagi jumped back on top of him.

"Look Renji, at least she didn't sign you up on a date with Lady Shihoin herself." Kira tried to placate the pissed off man and to be met with a sigh from Toshiro and a guilty smile from Rangiku. "Please tell me you didn't, Mats?"

Renji then quit struggling and became eerily calm. Iba smiled and relaxed but Hisagi and Kira exchanged worried glances with each other. "So you signed me up for a date with Lady Shihoin?"

"Well, I couldn't very well tell her no, now could I? And besides, it should be fun. Your boss seems to like hanging out with her so she must be entertaining."

The calmness continued but Hitsugaya recognized it as the lull before the storm and widened his stance. "My Captain? Do you have any idea what my captain will do to me when he finds out I am going on a date with the head of the Shihoin clan? Do you have any idea what my boss; the most uptight, traditionalist, and highest ranking noble; will do when he finds out that his Rukon trash Lieutenant has a date with the only other person in the entire Soul Society that is even close to of equal rank to him?" He started to raise his voice and his spiritual pressure until they were equally screeching by the end.

"Ooooh, you think he will get jealous? You think they have some sort of secret relationship?" she knelt in front of him and winked, "you can tell me, I promise not to tell anyone."

Before things could get any worse, Toshiro read the final name off the list, "Katen Kyokotsu?" he furrowed his brow in confusion, "isn't that Captain Kyouraku's zanpakato?"

"About that," she rubbed her hand across the back of her neck, "well he is a captain and does have bankai, though no one but the head captain and Ukitake have ever seen it, so he can materialize them into this world. Well apparently he lets them out sometimes when they're bored and I guess one of the things they like to do is," she moved back a bit from him, "watch you train, especially if you don't have your shirt on." She said in a rush. Toshiro could hear what sounded like a cross between a sword rattling in a sheath and a rattlesnake's tail and saw Zabimaru begin to glow red.

"WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!" He shouted, the strength of his spiritual pressure launching the three lieutenants off his back and across the room. Hitsugaya was impressed. Kira had the presence of mind to at least keep Zabimaru away from the irate man but that didn't stop him from flying at Matsumoto fast enough and hard enough to send them both straight through the wall.

In the court yard, he had her pinned down and she was desperately trying to talk her way out of a severe beating or death. One thing that could be said for Renji, he was equal opportunity in who he would kick the shit out of. While known for not attacking women, he had more than once commented that Lieutenants were not women, they were soldiers and therefore did not count. Toshiro watched as Kira and Hisagi both threw kido biding chains around him and Renji, with some struggle, managed to break them and reach her again. "It isn't like I could say no to them, they are a Captain's zanpakto after all and it's only the tall one that wants the date, the one with no face didn't say anything." She used the distraction to try and shoot a kido blast in his face, which only seemed to make him angrier.

"You could have kept your dick-sucking trap shut from the beginning!" He raged.

"I was only trying to help, Renji. You have been in love with her for the last 50 years and now you need to get over her and move on, she obviously has."

"Just like you got over Gin?" Renji threw at her and Toshiro could see her eyes shine with tears. It was a decidedly low blow, though he supposed no worse than what she had just said.

"Abarai, please release my lieutenant," Hitsugaya yelled and Renji reluctantly let her go.

"Thank you, Captain." She gasped and crawled over and knelt behind him, trying to regain her dignity, though Renji hadn't actually hurt her.

"Before you defend her, sir, I want you to think about one thing. If she is willing to do this to me, what is she going to do to you, when you are old enough to date?" Renji asked, pointing an accusing finger behind him.

Captain Hitsugaya thought for a moment then stepped aside, "carry on but please don't kill her." He then turned his back and walked through the hole in his office wall. He knew Renji fairly well and was certain that no matter how angry he got, unless Rukia or his Captain were threatened, he was unlikely to really hurt her. Besides, she totally deserved it.

* * *

Renji grumbled to himself as he tried to fix his unruly hair in a small mirror on his desk. Eventually, Kira managed to talk him out actually killing Matsumoto, though it was a near thing and was frankly more because he felt guilty about bringing Gin into it. He may not have ever been in love with Matsumoto but they had been lovers for 22 years and besides, he couldn't stand to see women cry. He had agreed to go out on the dates, only because Kira, again, pointed out how rude it would seem for him not to. Sometimes he really despised how Izuru could talk him into to doing things. If he didn't love the guy so much, he might really hate him.

So there he sat, trying to make himself look presentable for a date he didn't want, with a woman he barely knew, on a night he would rather be hanging out with Rukia. He tried to braid the top half, like Rukia always did for him, but failed miserably. Just when he was about to give up and grab his sword to lop the whole mess off, he felt delicate fingers begin to neatly plait it for him. He let Rukia's scent and aura wash around him and for the first time all day, he felt his shoulders relax.

When she finished, she seemed to sense his tension and began to knead his back. "What's wrong, big guy? You normally don't worry about your hair and aren't this tense." She ran her deft hands up his stiff neck and he closed his eyes, leaning into the touch. "Are you hurt?" She questioned as he rested his head against her and shook it 'no.' "Then what's with the tight shoulders and the hair do?" she teased.

"I have a date," he mumbled, wanting nothing more than to turn around and cuddle her.

"I didn't think Kira cared how you wear your hair?" she teased him and unconsciously kissed the top of his head. Renji was the only person she ever tended to be openly tactile around.

"It's not with Izuru. I'm going out with Lt. Kotetsu." Renji corrected.

"Isane, why are you going out with her?" but before he could answer, she figured it out. "Oh my god is this because of that ridiculous signup sheet Rangiku was passing around?" Renji shook his head 'yes' and listened to her heart beat. "People actually signed up to go out with you?" she snorted.

"Yes, why wouldn't they?"

"How desperate do they have to be to sign up to go out with you?" she laughed.

"Hey, what's wrong with me?"

She wiped at a tear that was rolling from her eye as she laughed. "Seriously, you need to tell her you can't go."

"Why can't I go?"

"Because you can't." she told him. It really was simple. Rangiku made him look like a complete loser by asking for volunteers and any woman that signed up was obviously just doing it because they wanted him as a notch on their belt or they felt sorry for him. Renji together with pity was a recipe for disaster. Besides, none of those women were good enough for her Renji.

"Why not?" He stubbornly demanded.

"Renji, none of those women really want to go out with you, they just feel sorry for you." She smiled at him as if she was explaining something to a very slow child.

"So you don't think a single one of them might actually like me?" She could tell he was starting to get angry.

"Well I'm sure they like certain things about you, mostly from the neck down, but honestly, what are you and Nanao going to talk about? She likes reading, not fighting and you're barely literate." She scoffed.

"That's not fair. Irregardless, I can still go if I want to."

"Irregardless isn't a word, dumbass, and, no, you can't."

"You can't tell me what to do." He stood up and towered over her, which immediately pissed her off.

"Someone needs to." She yelled back. All the shouting alerted her brother that something was amiss and he glided into the front part of the office. She turned to him and pointed back at Renji, "Nii-sama, tell him he can't go on a date with Isane, or any of the others for that matter."

"What! That's bullshit. I can go out on a date if I want." He bellowed then turned to his captain. "Sir, tell her she can't run my life and I have a right to go out with women if I want."

"You aren't allowed to go out whoring yourself all around the Soul Society!" she yelled.

"Whoring myself?" he shrieked, a blush creeping along his cheeks and she immediately felt guilty for calling him that. She didn't know for sure but always suspected he had had to resort to such actions once or twice to feed them back in Hanging Dog. He would never hear of her doing it though, which would have been the more logical choice. However, anger over road guilt. Didn't he understand she was trying to protect him? All those women would talk and make fun of him. He would become a laughing stock and he deserved better than that. He should have a woman that stuck up for him and wouldn't kiss and tell, not a gossip that would call him pretty but dumb or brag because they won a date with the powerful lieutenant. She was about to explain when he opened his big, stupid mouth and continued. "Isn't that the pot calling the kettle black? I'm only going on dates, not sucking face with Shigeru all over the place while accepting expensive gifts from him." He pointed at the delicate pearl necklace she wore, which was a gift from Shigeru.

"That's one guy, not every female of rank?" She sneered and they faced off at each other.

Then both turned back to her brother and said in unison. "Captain, tell her she can't run my life," and "Nii-sama, tell him he can't go."

Byakuya took one look between them and walked back into his office without saying a thing.

She later stormed out, after an aggressive glaring contest, and nearly ran into the 3rd seat, as he stood smoking on the porch. "Whatever is the matter, Kuchiki-dono, a lover's quarrel?" he drowned, his wrist resting comfortably on his daisho, a zanpakto named Ookami no Kiba.

"Oh fuck off, Saito, you squinty eyed bastard!" she roared and stomped off, as he continued to smoke, with an odd little smirk on his face.

* * *

Two weeks later, Rukia walked towards where the river first entered the Seireitei. She could hear the Kotetsu sisters discussing Isane's date and Kiyone lamenting the unfairness that she was not allowed a date as well. Rukia was tired of hearing gossip about Renji everywhere she went. She had nearly physically assaulted Nanao and Rangiku for talking about him. Of course, it didn't help that she only had hearsay to go by, since her and Renji hadn't talked to each other since their fight two weeks ago. But still, those bitches had no right to talk about her Renji like he was a piece of meat to be passed around. She supposed she was now ready to admit that she missed him horribly. She never noticed how often she sent him notes, stopped by to talk to him, had supper with him, ect during the week until she stopped. It was like trying to function without her left arm. She really wasn't sure how she had done it for 40 years, then remembered she had been freakin' miserable the entire time. But now, she was ready to apologize. She guessed maybe she had slightly overreacted about his dates and maybe said some things that she hadn't meant. Ok, she had been a hypocritical bitch to him and she would grovel for his forgiveness or better yet, bribe him into forgiving her.

She reached her destination and scaled up to the roof. It was not the highest but the angle offered the best view of the river. She knew it was one of Renji's favorite places. From this vantage point, you could follow the river through the winding, white streets of the Seireitei as they gave way to the wilds of the Rukongai, and if you squinted, you could see the spot by the river where she and Renji played as children with their family. She knew he always came here, when he was sad or lonely and if he felt half as lousy about their fight as she did, then he should be here.

She peeked her head above the roof line and saw him soaking up the last rays of sun, staring into the distance. She stood away from him for a moment, admiring the way the ochre light played against his blood red hair. "Are you just going to stand there and stare because it's a little rude and a Kuchiki should know better?" he asked, taking a sip from a bottle of sake.

"Am I welcome to stay?" she asked, trying to gage his mood.

"So you're talking to me again?" he questioned, still not turning to look at her.

"I don't know, are you talking to me?"

"What's in the bag?" he changed tactics, and she knew he had forgiven her. Her Renji, he never could stay mad for long.

"A peace offering, ice cream," she held the sack up, "guess what flavor."

He tilted his head towards her and closed his eyes, inhaling deeply through his nose and mouth. "Cherry vanilla?" she nodded yes, "you can stay." She felt the heavy lump she had had in her stomach for the last two weeks seemed to lighten a bit.

She plopped down beside him and handed him the jar of ice cream and he handed her his bottle of sake. They sat picking at their food and drink for a few minutes before she couldn't take it anymore. "Renji, I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything I said to you."

He cut her off before she could continue, "yeah, me too."

She looked up at him, "friends?"

"Always," he gave her a special smile, only she ever saw and she answered with her own. She now felt like all was right with the world and she took a drink of his sake and he licked melted ice cream off his fingers.

They shared the ice cream and sake, while watching the sunset. In between spoonfuls and draughts, she ran her hands along his arms, legs, chest, and back to make sure he was whole and healthy. She knew him and knew he hid his hurts. He sniffed her, taking in her scent to make sure nothing had changed. It was a ritual with them, whenever they had been parted for too long. She had to touch him and feel the warmth of his skin, to know that he was real and safe. He had to smell her for the same reason. Rukia knew it was incredibly strange but she did it anyway.

She was leaning against his arm and he was playing with her hair, when she again broke the silence, "so are you going to tell me how they went? Were there any romantic sparks?" She wiggled her eyebrows at him and he smiled down at her.

"Hardly, more like blazing infernos." He winked at her and her eyes widened comically until he threw his head back and laughed. "Sucker! They were all around general disasters."

The lump seemed to lose a bit more mass and she teased him, "you mean just like I tried to warn you they would?"

"Bite me!" he threw back at her and she jumped up, taking a lock of his pony tail in her mouth and shaking it violently like an over excited puppy. The action made him chuckle and she giggled in return. Only with Renji would she ever be so goofy and unconcerned with her reputation. He had seen her at her lowest, starving, dirty, and alone. He had seen her too exhausted to lift her head and too weak to draw her zanpakato. He had seen her humiliated when he had made it into the advanced class when she had not and crying when she had thought Nii-sama dead. Through all of it, he had never looked at her with disgust or hatred, only love. She knew she looked at him the same way, after all, they were family. Renji was the one and only person in the entire universe she felt she never needed to put on airs for and it was refreshing.

She moved to plunk back down beside him but he grabbed her and flipped her over his shoulder so she sat nestled between his legs, with his arms wrapped around her. She smiled and shook her head. He was such a closeted cuddler. She rested the ice cream on her lap and continued to eat. "You seriously want to know how my dates went?" he asked her She shook her head 'yes' and snuggled a little more comfortably against him, holding the ice cream in an easier place for him to reach and he began to spin his story.

Next chapter, the dates!


End file.
